Soprano legend Ileana Cotrubaș dies at 87

Soprano Ileana Cotrubaș has died aged 87, ORF reported. Born in Romania, she was regarded as one of the legendary sopranos of the Vienna State Opera, where she was an honorary member.

“External, smooth perfection was not what she sought, but artistic truth in singing and acting,” the Vienna State Opera said on Thursday in tribute to the late artist.

Cotrubaș was born on June 9, 1939, in Galați in eastern Romania. Her family moved to the capital in 1945. She later studied at the Bucharest Academy of Music and made her stage debut at the city’s National Opera in 1964.

Her victory at a singing competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands opened the way to the West in 1965. She soon found success in Brussels and Amsterdam, moved to Vienna for further study in 1967, and appeared at the Salzburg Festival for the first time in 1968. That same year, she received her first permanent engagement in Frankfurt.

Her Vienna State Opera debut came in 1969 as Pamina in The Magic Flute. It marked the beginning of a long association with the house, where she performed numerous acclaimed roles through 1990, including Violetta, Mimì and Zerlina. On November 26, 1990, she gave her final performance there as Mimì.

Although Vienna became both her artistic and personal home, Cotrubaș also performed at major opera houses from Paris and Milan to New York. She received the title of Austrian Kammersängerin in 1981 and was made an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera in 1991. The opera house flew a black flag in her honour.