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Opera star Maria Fołtyn dies

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 03.12.2012 08:17
One of the most popular Polish sopranos of the last century, Maria Fołtyn, has died in Warsaw at the age of 88.

Having sky-rocketed to stardom for her excellent portrayal of the eponymous character in Stanisław Moniuszko’s ‘Halka’, she became an indefatigable promoter of the output of the father of Polish national opera.

She sang the part of Halka over 200 times, in Poland and abroad.

At the age of 45, she took up studies in theatre direction at the State Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw and in the 1970s and 80s produced Moniuszko’s ‘Halka’ and ‘The Haunted Manor’ in Mexico, Turkey, Cuba, the United States, Canada, Romania and Brazil.

Born in Radom in 1924, Maria Fołtyn studied voice in Poland – with such famous singers as the bass Adam Didur ( 1874-1946) and the soprano Ada Sari and abroad, in Italy and Germany. She was a prizewinner of the vocal competitions in Vercelli (1956) and Chiararte (1957).

In the 1960s she regularly appeared in the opera theatres in Leipzig, Lubeck and Hamburg. She also developed a successful career as a recitalist, with performances in New York, Toronto, Rome, Milan, Bonn, Moscow and Prague.

She served for many years as director of the Moniuszko International Festival in Kudowa-Zdrój and the Moniuszko International Vocal Competition in Warsaw. (mk/pg)

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