Elena Obraztsova

Obraztsova worked between 1939 and 2015 across opera singer, music educator, actor, opera director and musician. The registers place that work in opera and romance. This article rests on 100 catalogued compositions, 20 issued recordings and 3 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

Elena Obraztsova studied at Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The recorded working language is Russian. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera and romance. Employment is recorded with Moscow Conservatory. Distinctions recorded are Order of Lenin, Hero of Socialist Labour, People's Artist of the USSR and Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class.

• Name — Elena Obraztsova • Native Name — Елена Образцова • Birth Name — Yelena Vasilyevna Obraztsova • Born — 7 July 1939 • Birthplace — Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union • Died — 12 January 2015 • Place of death — Leipzig, Saxony, Germany • Occupation — Opera singer (mezzo-soprano) • Awards — Hero of Socialist Labour

As a child, Obraztsova lived in Leningrad through the severe long siege (more than 870 days) during World War II. In 1948, at the age of nine, she began singing in the children's chorus of the Pioneers Palace in Leningrad. From 1954 to 1957, she studied in the Tchaikovsky musical college in Taganrog and frequently participated in concerts onstage of Taganrog Theatre. From 1957 to 1958, Obraztsova studied in Rostov-on-Don's music school. In August 1958, Obraztsova passed the examinations and became a student at the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1963 she was invited to perform in a Bolshoi Theatre production of Boris Godunov in Moscow. Her introduction to the opera houses of Europe and the world was a recital in the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

She played many roles throughout her career, including performances under the baton of such leading conductors as Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan. In December 1977 she opened the 200th opera season in La Scala singing Don Carloss Eboli with Abbado as conductor. She first performed in New York in 1976, in Aida, and was called a "major artist" in reviews. In 1978, she played the title role of Carmen opposite Plácido Domingo in Franco Zeffirelli's television production of the opera. She also appeared as Santuzza in Zeffirelli's film version of Cavalleria rusticana in 1982. In her career she performed in operas with many other well-known opera singers of her generation: Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Ingvar Wixell, and appeared in Don Carlos with Domingo and Margaret Price. On 27 December 1990, she was awarded the title of the Hero of Socialist Labour (mark of distinction - "Hammer and Sickle" gold medal), Order of Lenin by the President of USSR for her contribution to the development of Soviet Music. In June 2007, Obraztsova was appointed artistic director of opera at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. She also trained young soloists in her own cultural center in St. Petersburg. Obraztsova regularly appeared on stage at the Mikhailovsky in the role of the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. In 2008, Obraztsova ended her artistic director contract with the Mikhailovsky to concentrate on the competition of her name and the recently announced project of International Academy of Music in St Petersburg. Obraztsova remained in collaboration with the Mikhailovsky at the General Director's Artistic Advisor. On 7 July 2009, Obraztsova's 70th birthday was marked with a special program at the Mikhailovsky Theater that included ballet performances, opera arias, excerpts from films, and jazz and piano recitals.

She strongly supported the Soviet Union, and signed a letter in 1974 denouncing Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya for their support for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Obraztsova expressed her support for the International Delphic Games. Greetings with her signature came to the III Delphic Games 2009 in Jeju/South Korea, under the motto "In Tune with Nature", and to the IV Junior Delphic Games 2011 in Johannesburg/South Africa with their motto "Provoke, Innovate, Inspire". She was married twice, first to Vyacheslav Makarov, a physicist, and later Algis Ziuraitis, who was a conductor at the Bolshoi. She had a daughter, Elena, with Makarov.

Obraztsova died on 12 January 2015 in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, while undergoing medical treatment. She was 75 years old.

• Role — Composer — Opera • Adalgisa — Bellini — Norma • Amneris — Verdi — Aida • Azucena — Verdi — Il trovatore • Carmen — Bizet — Carmen • Charlotte — Massenet — Werther • Countess — Tchaikovsky — The Queen of Spades • Dalila — Saint-Saëns — Samson et Dalila • Eboli — Verdi — Don Carlos • Federica — Verdi — Luisa Miller • Frosya — Prokofiev — Semyon Kotko • Giovanna Seymour — Donizetti — Anna Bolena • Governess — Tchaikovsky — The Queen of Spades • Grandma — Prokofiev — The Gambler • Hélène Bezukhova — Prokofiev — War and Peace • Hérodiade — Massenet — Hérodiade • Jocasta — Stravinsky — Oedipus rex • Judith — Béla Bartók — Bluebeard's Castle • Konchakovna — Borodin — Prince Igor • Léonor de Guzman (Leonora di Gusmann) — Donizetti — La favorite • Lyubasha — Rimsky-Korsakov — The Tsar's Bride • Lyubava Buslayevna — Rimsky-Korsakov — Sadko • Marfa — Mussorgsky — Khovanshchina • Maria Akhrosimova — Prokofiev — War and Peace • Marina Mniszech — Mussorgsky — Boris Godunov • Marya Bolkonskaya — Prokofiev — War and Peace • Néris — Cherubini — Médée • Oberon — Britten — A Midsummer Night's Dream • Orfeo — Gluck — Orfeo ed Euridice • Santuzza 1 — Mascagni — Cavalleria rusticana 1 • Silvana — Respighi — La fiamma • The Marquise of Birkenfeld — Donizetti — The Daughter of the Regiment • The Princess — Puccini — Suor Angelica • Polina; Milovzor (Daphnis) — Tchaikovsky — The Queen of Spades • Princess de Bouillon — Cilea — Adriana Lecouvreur • Prince Orlofsky — J. Strauss II — Die Fledermaus • Ulrica — Verdi — Un ballo in maschera • Zhenya Komelkova — Molchanov — The Dawns Here Are Quiet • 1 Concert performance of the opera/operetta

Elena Obraztsova was born on 7 July 1939 in Saint Petersburg. Obraztsova held the nationality of Soviet Union and Russia. Obraztsova was educated at Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Obraztsova worked as opera singer, music educator, actor and opera director, and the authority record catalogues a further 1 occupations under the same name, among them musician. Obraztsova was active from 1963. Obraztsova was employed by Moscow Conservatory. The fields Obraztsova worked in include opera and romance. Obraztsova played the piano and the voice. Obraztsova worked in Russian. Obraztsova died on 12 January 2015 in Leipzig. Obraztsova is buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.

• Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1st prize) (1962) • 1970 - Viñas prize (1st prize, International Vocal Competition in Barcelona) • Honored Artist of the RSFSR • 1970 Tchaikovsky prize (1st prize) • Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice (1971, 1980) • Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR - for concerts and theatrical activities 1971-1972 period (1973) • People's Artist of the RSFSR (1973) • Lenin Prize - for concert programs in 1973-1974 and the roles of Froska "(Simeon Kolko)", Carmen and Azucena "(Il Trovatore)" (1976) • People's Artist of the USSR (1976) • Hero of Socialist Labour (27 December 1990) - for outstanding contributions to the development of Soviet musical art • Order of Lenin (27 December 1990) • Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class (17 June 1999) - for outstanding contribution to the development of musical art • Casta Diva prize (2002) • Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class (10 June 2009) - for outstanding contribution to music and many years of fruitful creative activity • Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2009) - in consideration of his labours for the good of the Church and in connection with her 70th birthday