Margarita Voites - aria from "The Snow Maiden" ('Снегурочка') by Rimsky-Korsakov

MARGARITA VOITES (born in 1936), a legendary coloratura soprano and the prima donna assoluta of the Estonian Opera. Her first appearance on the stage was in 1957 when a group of students at the Tartu University played the operetta of Imre Kálmán 'The Violet of Montmartre'. The success urged Margarita to leave the University and to study singing at the Tallinn Conservatory (now the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). In 1964 she became a soloist at the oldest theatre in Estonia, Vanemuine in Tartu. There she attracted attention with her first brilliant roles: Violetta ('La traviata'), Gilda ('Rigoletto') and Marguerite ('Faust' by Gounod).

In 1969 Margarita Voites became the prima donna of the Estonian National Opera where she created a list of unforgettable roles. The most significant of them were Violetta in 'La traviata' and the title role in Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'. Voites's unique voice, excellent vocal technique, artistry and charm received the most important recognition of the Soviet era, the title of a People's Artist of the USSR. Margarita Voites was also the first Estonian female singer to perform on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Besides opera roles Voites has given an enormous quantity of recitals in Estonia, all over the former USSR, in many European countries, Japan, India, Canada etc.

Although Margarita Voites finished her career at the Estonian National Opera in 1990, her voice still can be heard in churches and concert halls. When almost every coloratura soprano of her age has stopped singing, Margarita Voites is still in an excellent vocal form.

This video is recorded in 1977 for a TV programme on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Margarita Voites's singing teacher Linda Saul. The clip begins with Margarita's short speech wishing her teacher Happy Birthday! The singer is accompanied by the pianist Therese Raide (born in 1921).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Rimsky-Korsakov
• Rimski-Korsakov
• Римский-Корсаков
• Snow
• Maiden
• Снегурочка
• Lumivalgeke
• aria
• arioso
• Margarita
• Voites
• Margarita Voites
• coloratura
• soprano
• koloratuursopran
• Маргарита
• Войтес
• колоратурное
• сопрано
• Народная артистка СССР
• eesti
• lauljad
• Estonia
• teater
• primadonna