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Edita Gruberová
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=== Opera === In 1968, Gruberová made her operatic debut at the [[Slovak National Theatre#Old building|National Theatre]] in [[Bratislava]] as Rosina in Rossini's ''[[Il barbiere di Siviglia]]''.<ref name="Patmore" /><ref name="Thiel">{{cite news |last=Thiel |first=Markus |date=29 March 2019 |title=Edita Gruberova: Die Königin dankt ab |url=https://www.merkur.de/kultur/edita-gruberova-verabschiedet-sich-an-bayerischen-staatsoper-in-roberto-devereux-von-opernbuehne-12001473.html |work=[[Merkur]] |location=Munich |language=de |access-date=23 January 2020 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730221751/https://www.merkur.de/kultur/edita-gruberova-verabschiedet-sich-an-bayerischen-staatsoper-in-roberto-devereux-von-opernbuehne-12001473.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Vienna" /> After winning a singing competition in [[Toulouse]], she was then engaged as a soloist of the opera ensemble of the J. G. Tajovský Theatre in [[Banská Bystrica]], Slovakia, from 1968 to 1970.<ref name="Patmore" /><ref name="BR" /><ref>{{cite news |last=App |first=Rolf |date=23 December 2016 |title=OPER: Die bescheidene Königin |url=https://www.tagblatt.ch/kultur/oper-die-bescheidene-koenigin-ld.918186 |work=[[St. Galler Tagblatt]] |location=St. Gallen |language=de |access-date=23 January 2020 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730223443/https://www.tagblatt.ch/kultur/oper-die-bescheidene-koenigin-ld.918186 |url-status=live }}</ref> Among her roles was [[Eliza Doolittle]] in Loewe's musical ''[[My Fair Lady]]''.<ref name="oe1.orf.at 2021">{{cite web | title=Edita Gruberova hat Grund zu feiern | website=oe1.orf.at | date=18 October 2021 | url=https://oe1.orf.at/artikel/293543/Edita-Gruberova-hat-Grund-zu-feiern | language=de | access-date=19 October 2021 | archive-date=19 October 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019123520/https://oe1.orf.at/artikel/293543/Edita-Gruberova-hat-Grund-zu-feiern | url-status=live }}</ref> Since [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|communist Czechoslovakia]] was going through [[Normalization (Czechoslovakia)|normalisation]], during which the borders to non-communist countries were closed, Medvecká surreptitiously arranged for an audition for Gruberová at the [[Vienna State Opera]] in the summer of 1969. She was immediately engaged, and made her breakthrough the following year when she appeared as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''[[Die Zauberflöte]]''.<ref name="Patmore" /><ref name="Vienna" /> In 1971, Gruberová decided to emigrate to the West.<ref name="Brug 2021">{{cite news | last=Brug | first=Manuel | title=Edita Gruberová: Großmächtige Koloraturprinzessin | website=[[Die Welt]] | date=18 October 2021 | url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article234501094/Edita-Gruberova-Grossmaechtige-Koloraturprinzessin.html | language=de | access-date=19 October 2021 | archive-date=18 October 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018234839/https://www.welt.de/kultur/article234501094/Edita-Gruberova-Grossmaechtige-Koloraturprinzessin.html | url-status=live }}</ref> She became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1972,<ref name="Kutsch Riemens Rost 2012 p. 1858" /><ref name="Spielplanarchiv der Wiener Staatsoper">{{cite web | title=Vorstellungen mit Edita Gruberova | website=Spielplanarchiv der Wiener Staatsoper | url=https://archiv.wiener-staatsoper.at/search/person/1059 | language=de | access-date=19 October 2021 | archive-date=27 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127231047/https://archiv.wiener-staatsoper.at/search/person/1059 | url-status=live }}</ref> where she was only given secondary and supporting roles in her early years.<ref name="Kesting 2021">{{cite news |last=Kesting |first=Jürgen |date=20 October 2021 |title=Ein Sonnenstrahl, durch einen Diamanten gebrochen |url=https://zeitung.faz.net/faz/feuilleton/2021-10-20/bbf62cc725a6804f61dabdca855a385e/?GEPC=s9 |newspaper=FAZ|location=Frankfurt |language=de |access-date=20 October 2021}}</ref> She was invited to perform at many of the most important opera houses in the world, especially in [[Coloratura soprano|coloratura]] roles.<ref name="Patmore" /> Gruberová made her debut at [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne]] in 1973 as the Queen of the Night.<ref name="Patmore" /><ref>{{cite web |date=2013 |title=The Opera Archive |url=https://www.glyndebourne.com/persons/edita-gruberova/ |work=Glyndebourne Festival |location=Glyndebourne |access-date=23 January 2020 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930195524/https://www.glyndebourne.com/persons/edita-gruberova/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She became an Austrian citizen in 1974.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pick |first=Hella |date=20 August 1979 |title=From Prague Spring to Salzburg |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87370488/prick-edita-gruberova/ |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |page=6 |access-date=19 October 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In Vienna, she studied with Ruthilde Boesch, whom she described as a wonderful, tough, diligent teacher, the demanding role of Zerbinetta in ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' by Richard Strauss.<ref name="Kesting 2021" /> Although a guest was planned to sing the role in a new production in 1976, Gruberová convinced conductor [[Karl Böhm]] that she was capable. The premiere won her international recognition,<ref name="BR" /> and Böhm said he wished that the composer could have heard that performance.<ref name="Kesting" /> Gruberová first appeared at the [[Metropolitan Opera]], [[New York City]] in 1977,<ref>{{cite news |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |date=7 November 1989 |title=Reviews/Music; Edita Gruberova in Recital |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/07/arts/reviews-music-edita-gruberova-in-recital.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City |access-date=22 January 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901125757/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/07/arts/reviews-music-edita-gruberova-in-recital.html |url-status=live }}</ref> again as the Queen of the Night, conducted by [[James Conlon]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2021 |title=Die Zauberflöte {211} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/5/1977 |url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=247900&limit=3000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=Gruberova,%20Edita%20%5BSoprano%5D&x=0&xhomepath=http://69.18.170.204/archiv&xhome=http://69.18.170.204/archives/bibpro.htm |website=Met archives |access-date=19 October 2021}}</ref> She appeared as Zerbinetta in a live broadcast conducted by [[James Levine]] in 1979. Robert Jacobson of ''Opera News'', in his review noted: {{quote|New, and a brilliant addition to the ensemble, was Edita Gruberova as Zerbinetta, The Slovak soprano is everything one could hope for in this soaring, most demanding role, for she acts enchantingly, sings with great skill and musicality and possesses a voice that not only sails easily to the top, but is filled out with sweetness and quality; she had a triumph, predictably, not only in her big aria, but in the touching duet with the Composer in the prologue as well.<ref>{{cite web | last = Jacobson | first = Robert | date=2021 |title=Ariadne auf Naxos {32} Matinee Broadcast ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 03/10/1979., Broadcast |url=http://69.18.170.204/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=256770&limit=3000&xBranch=ALL&xsdate=&xedate=&theterm=Gruberova,%20Edita%20%5BSoprano%5D&x=0&xhomepath=http://69.18.170.204/archiv&xhome=http://69.18.170.204/archives/bibpro.htm |website=Met archives |access-date=19 October 2021}}</ref>}} In 1977, she first appeared at the [[Salzburg Festival]], as Thibault in Verdi's ''[[Don Carlo]]'', conducted by [[Herbert von Karajan]]. In opera films, she performed as Gilda in Ponnelle's [[Rigoletto (1982 film)|1982 film adaptation]] of ''[[Rigoletto]]'', alongside [[Ingvar Wixell]] in the title role and [[Luciano Pavarotti]] as the Duke,<ref>{{OCLC|978004560}}</ref> and in his 1988 film adaptation of Mozart's ''[[Così fan tutte]]'', alongside [[Delores Ziegler]] and [[Ferruccio Furlanetto]].<ref>{{OCLC|31634185}}</ref> Gruberová made her [[Royal Opera House]] debut as Giulietta in Bellini's ''[[I Capuleti e i Montecchi]]'' in 1984. Other important roles include the title roles of Verdi's ''[[La traviata]]'', Donizetti's ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'', and Massenet's ''[[Manon]]''. She performed as Konstanze in Mozart's ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'', and Oscar in Verdi's ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]''.<ref name="Kutsch Riemens Rost 2012 p. 1858" /> [[File:Gruberova 2008 - web.jpg|thumb|upright|Gruberová in 2008]] Gruberová appeared as a regular guest at the [[Zürich Opera]], as Marie in Donizetti's ''[[La fille du régiment]]'' in 1984, as Lucia in 1990, and in the title role of Rossini's ''[[Semiramide]]'' in 1992. She performed there in the title role of Donizetti's ''[[Linda di Chamounix]]'' in 1995, as Elvira in Bellini's ''[[I puritani]]'' in 1999, in the title role of Donizetti's ''[[Anna Bolena]]'' in 2000, and in the title role of Bellini's ''[[Beatrice di Tenda]]'' in 2001.<ref name="Kutsch Riemens Rost 2012 p. 1858" /> The same year, she withdrew from all her performances at the Zürich Opera, after Alexander Pereira, then intendant, claimed that her dancer daughter's injury, which forced her to quit dancing, was not an occupational accident.<ref name="BR" /> In 2012, she appeared there again in a recital, stepping in for [[Jonas Kaufmann]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nzz.ch/comeback-von-edita-gruberova-1.16815570 |title=Comeback von Edita Gruberova |date=9 May 2012 |work=[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]] |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730231805/https://www.nzz.ch/comeback-von-edita-gruberova-1.16815570 |url-status=live }}</ref> Later that year, after Pereira's departure, she performed with the company again, in a revival of ''[[Roberto Devereux]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.drehpunktkultur.at/index.php/rest-der-welt/ausland/5005-die-triumphale-rueckkehr-von-edita-gruberova |title=Die triumphale Rückkehr von Edita Gruberova |date=1 October 2012 |website=DrehPunktKultur |first=Oliver |last=Schneider |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=19 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719193436/http://www.drehpunktkultur.at/index.php/rest-der-welt/ausland/5005-die-triumphale-rueckkehr-von-edita-gruberova |url-status=live }}</ref> Gruberová appeared as Donna Anna in Mozart's ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' at [[La Scala]] in Milan in 1987 and as [[Elizabeth I|Elisabetta]] in Donizetti's ''Roberto Devereux'' in Vienna in 1990. The latter became one of her signature roles; in a new production in Munich directed by [[Christof Loy]], she made peace with ''[[Regietheater]]'' in a dramatic portrayal of the Queen, without losing her distinctive coloratura. She always performed coloratura ornamentation with dramatic expressiveness, with humour as Zerbinetta, and in rapture with a high [[Trill (music)|trill]] as the dying Antonia in [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]]'s ''[[Les contes d'Hoffmann]]''.<ref name="Kesting" /> In 2006, she added the title role in Bellini's ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' to her repertoire, at the [[Bavarian State Opera]].<ref name="BR" /> She gave her last opera performance on 27 March 2019 as Elisabetta in ''Roberto Devereux'' at the Bavarian State Opera.<ref name="Salazar">{{cite news |url=https://operawire.com/edita-gruberova-gives-final-performances-at-the-bayerische-staatsoper/ |title=Edita Gruberova Gives Final Performances At The Bayerische Staatsoper |date=20 March 2019 |first=Francisco |last=Salazar |work=OperaWire |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322111436/https://operawire.com/edita-gruberova-gives-final-performances-at-the-bayerische-staatsoper/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Zeit"/> She concluded her stage career after 51 years of singing leading roles,<ref name="Kesting" /> and received ovations for 58 minutes.<ref name="Thiel" /> [[Jürgen Kesting]], writing for the ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|FAZ]]'', allegorized her convincing portrayal of the aging Elizabeth I who leaves her throne and drew parallels to her retiring.<ref name="Kesting" /> She then focused on concerts and giving masterclasses.<ref name="Salazar" /><ref name="Zeit"/> She officially retired from the stage in September 2020, in part due to delays related to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] which made planning further performances difficult.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/edita-gruberova-beendet-zum-jahresende-karriere-100.html |title=Star-Sopranistin Edita Gruberová beendet Karriere: Zum Jahresende ist Schluss |date=14 September 2020 |publisher=BR-Klassik |first=Antje |last=Dörfner |access-date=28 March 2021 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308001130/https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/edita-gruberova-beendet-zum-jahresende-karriere-100.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Her last performance was in [[Gersthofen]] on 20 December 2019.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 September 2020 |work=Forumopera.com |url=https://www.forumopera.com/breve/clap-de-fin-pour-edita-gruberova |title=Clap de fin pour Edita Gruberová ? |access-date=28 March 2021 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930220306/https://www.forumopera.com/breve/clap-de-fin-pour-edita-gruberova |url-status=live }}</ref> Her two planned farewell performances in November 2020, in a semi-staged ''Roberto Devereux'' at the [[National Theatre Košice]], were cancelled due to the pandemic.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://kosice.korzar.sme.sk/c/22537115/operna-diva-edita-gruberova-sa-rozhodla-definitivne-ukoncit-karieru.html |title=Operná diva Edita Gruberová definitívne končí kariéru |date=18 November 2020 |first=Róbert |last=Bejda |work=Korzár |language=sk |access-date=28 March 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205032315/https://kosice.korzar.sme.sk/c/22537115/operna-diva-edita-gruberova-sa-rozhodla-definitivne-ukoncit-karieru.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
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