Olivera Miljaković ( sr-Cyrl, Оливера Миљаковић, ; born 26 April 1934S. Đ. K. (Đurić Klajn, Stana), Miljaković, Olivera, ''Muzička enciklopedija'', vol. 2, Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski Zavod, 1974, pp. 586–587 is a Serbian-born

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer, who had a major career centered on the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

.Kms Olivera Miljaković
(accessed 28 November 2015)

Training

Born in Belgrade, Miljaković demonstrated early her singing talent. She studied solo singing with Mile Stojadinović, then at Academy of Music in Belgrade with Josip Rijavec and Nikola Cvejić, and later furthered her studies with

Gina Cigna Gina Cigna (6 March 1900 – 26 June 2001) was a French-Italian dramatic soprano. Biography Gina Cigna was born in Angers, department of Maine-et-Loire, to parents of Italian origin. She trained as a pianist at the Paris Conservatory studying w ...

in Milan and Ludwig Weber in Vienna."Olivera Miljakovic"
Bayreuther Festspiele, citing Kutsch, K. J. and

Riemens, Leo Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

. ''

Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The fi ...

''. München: K.G. Saur, 1999 (accessed 28 November 2015)

Career

She was engaged in 1960 by

National Theatre in Belgrade The National Theatre ( sr-cyr, Народно позориште, Narodno pozorište) is a theatre located in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in the latter half of the 19th century, it is located on the Republic Square, at the corner of Vasina and Fr ...

Opera for two years. On the advice of the contralto Biserka Cvejić she then went to Vienna and in 1962 became a member of Vienna State Opera, where she achieved an accomplished career as a soloist. As early as 1965, she sang Feodor in

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...

's performance of ''

Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...

'' at

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

and a young shepherd in ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

'' at

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

. Her first great success in Vienna State Oper was Despina (''

Così fan tutte (''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written ...

'', 1967), followed by Susanna (''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

'', 1968), Zerlina (''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'', 1969), Serpina (''

La serva padrona ''La serva padrona'' (''The Maid Turned Mistress'') is a 1733 intermezzo by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) to a libretto by Gennaro Federico, after the Play (theatre), play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 40 minutes long, in two par ...

'', 1970), Blonde (''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

''), and others. Miljaković performed on many important opera and concert stages and festivals, with conductors such as

Lovro von Matačić Lovro von Matačić (14 February 1899 – 4 January 1985) was a Croatian conductor and composer. Early life Lovro von Matačić was born in Sušak, Rijeka, Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...

Georges Prêtre Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Prêtre was born in Waziers ( Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conduct ...

and

Carlos Kleiber Carlos Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was a German-born Austrian conductor, who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time. The son of the conductor Erich Kleiber, he was particularly known for the Romantic rep ...

. She also participated in a number of noticeable opera recordings with the same conductors. Since 1980 she has run a private school for solo singing and from 1987 till 1991 she worked as a professor in the Opera Studio of Vienna State Opera. Among her students was the soprano

Vlatka Oršanić Vlatka Oršanić (born 1958) is a Croatian opera singer (soprano) and vocal pedagogue. Kutsch, Karl-Josef and Riemens, Leo (eds.) (2004)"Oršanić, Vlatka" ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', 4th edition, p. 3461. Walter de Gruyter. Life and career ...

. Miljaković holds many

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es and concerts all over the world; she was music director of

Bassano del Grappa Bassano del Grappa ( or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Province of Vicenza, Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Va ...

OperaEstate festival, and from 2003 music director of Ambassadors concert. In 1984 she was given the honorific title ''

Kammersänger Kammersänger (male; ) or Kammersängerin (female; ), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German Title of honor, honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was besto ...

in'' for distinguished singers of opera. For her work in the field of culture, she was awarded with ''Golden Ring'' of the Vienna State Opera and with ''Silver'' and ''Golden Medal'' from the Republic of Austria.

Recordings

Video

* ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

'' – Marianne (1994) * ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' – Echo (1979) * ''

Gräfin Mariza ''Gräfin Mariza'' (; ''Countess Maritza'') is an operetta in three acts composed by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with a German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered in Vienna on 28 February 1924 at the Theater ...

'' – Manja (1974) * ''

Dafne ''Dafne'' is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. The libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini, based on an earlier intermedio created in 1589, "Combattimento di Apollo col serpente Pitone," and set to music by ...

'' – Dafne (1972) * '' Kaiserin Josephine'' – Josephine (1971) * ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...

'' – Marzelline (1970) * ''

'' – Despina (1970) * ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' – Frasquita (1969)

Audio

* ''

'' – Marianne (1994) * Olivera Miljaković ' – (1993) * Symphony No. 9 (''Choral'') in D minor * '' Paganini'' – Bella Ciretti (1977) * ''

'' – Manja (1974) * '' Un ballo in maschera'' – Oscar (1973) * ''

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the D ...

'' – Zdenka (1973) * ''

Die Csárdásfürstin ' ( or ; ''The Csárdás Princess''; translated into English as ''The Riviera Girl'' and ''The Gipsy Princess'') is an operetta in 3 acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with libretto by Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach. It premiered in Vienna ...

'' – Countess Stasi (1971) * ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' – Papagena (1970) * ''

'' – Zerlina (1970) * ''

'' – Despina (1968) * ''

'' – Feodor (1966)

Recognition and awards

* ''Golden Ring'' (Vienna State Opera) * ''Silver Medal'' (Republic of Austria) * ''Golden Medal'' (Republic of Austria)

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miljakovic, Olivera 1934 births 20th-century Serbian women opera singers Serbian operatic sopranos Austrian operatic sopranos Yugoslav women opera singers Singers from Belgrade Living people