Dunja Vejzović

Dunja Vejzović (; born 20 October 1943) is a Croatian operatic mezzo-soprano and soprano.

Biography

Dunja Crnković was born in Zagreb and was married in 1963, changing her surname to Vejzović. She studied at the Zagreb Academy of Music, where she sang The Witch in '' Hänsel und Gretel'' in 1968. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, debuting in 1970 as Ariel in Stjepan Šulek's ''Oluja'' (The Tempest).

From 1971 to 1978, Vejzović was a member of the Nuremberg Opera, where she appeared in many operas, including principal roles in '' Orfeo ed Euridice'', ''Carmen'', ''Tannhäuser'' (as Venus), '' Intolleranza'', ''Die Soldaten'' (as Charlotte), ''Dido and Æneas'', '' Elektra'' (as Klytemnästra), '' Il trovatore'' (as Azucena, directed by Hans Neuenfels in his operatic debut), ''Boris Godunov'' (as Marina Mnichek), ''Wozzeck'' (as Marie), '' Aïda'' (as Amneris), ''Lulu'' (as the Countess Geschwitz), and ''Samson et Dalila''. Among her teachers were Iris Adami Corradetti and Gina Cigna.

Her international career began in 1978, at the Bayreuth Festival, where she sang Kundry in ''Parsifal'', for three summers. On 9 October 1978 Vejzović made her Metropolitan Opera debut in ''Tannhäuser'', as Venus, opposite Jess Thomas in the name part, with James Levine conducting.

In 1980 and 1981, Herbert von Karajan engaged her to appear in his Salzburg Easter Festival ''Parsifal'', which was reckoned a great success. In 1984, she sang Ortrud, in ''Lohengrin'', for that Festival. In 1982, Vejzović debuted at the Teatro alla Scala, as Didon in ''Les Troyens'', conducted by Georges Prêtre and directed by Luca Ronconi. At that theatre, she also appeared in '' Suor Angelica'' (as the Zia Principessa, 1983, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni), ''Tannhäuser'' (1984), ''Der fliegende Holländer'' (as Senta, 1988), and ''Parsifal'' (conducted by Riccardo Muti, 1991).

Another of her great collaborations has been with the director Robert Wilson, in whose productions she sang the title role of '' Alceste'' (conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, 1986–87), and in ''Parsifal'' (1991 and 1992).

Vejzović has also appeared in Monte-Carlo (Brünnhilde in ''Die Walküre'', 1979), Berlin, Carnegie Hall (the Verdi Requiem, conducted by Lorin Maazel, 1982), Barcelona ('' Hérodiade'', opposite Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras, 1983), Paris (''Médée'', 1986), Teatro Colón (Kundry, 1986), Vienna (''Wozzeck'', under Claudio Abbado, 1987; ''Lohengrin'', with Plácido Domingo, 1990), and Houston (''Parsifal'' and ''Lohengrin'', 1992).

Also in her repertoire are ''Erwartung'', ''Rienzi'', ''Siegfried'', '' Le Cid'', ''Bluebeard's Castle'', ''Œdipus rex'', ''Attila'', Abigaille in ''Nabucco'', ''I due Foscari'', Princess Eboli in ''Don Carlos'', Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth'', ''Fierrabras'', ''Fidelio'', '' Thérèse'', Brangäne in ''Tristan und Isolde'', and '' Sapho''.

Other distinguished conductors with whom Vejzović has collaborated have included Christoph von Dohnányi, Armin Jordan, Michael Gielen, Lovro von Matačić, Jesús López-Cobos, Zubin Mehta, Carlos Kleiber, Nicola Rescigno, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

In 2002 she bid farewell to the stage, as Charlotte in ''Werther'', at Zagreb, with Francisco Araiza in the name part.

She has twice won the Prix Fondation Fanny Heldy, for her recordings of Kundry and Ortrud. As of 2009, Mme Vejzović is a professor at the Hochschule für Musik, in Stuttgart.

In March 2014 Vejzović made a brief return to the stage, as the Grandmother Buryjovka, in Peter Konwitschny's production of ''Jenůfa'', at Oper Graz.

Abridged discography

* Schmidt: ''Fredigundis'' (Hollweg, Egel; Märzendorfer, 1979) iveOrfeo
* Wagner: ''Parsifal'' (Hofmann; Karajan, 1979–80) Deutsche Grammophon
* Wagner: ''Lohengrin'' (Tomowa-Sintow, Kollo; Karajan, 1976–81) EMI
* Berg: "Three Fragments from ''Wozzeck''" (C.Kleiber, 1982) iveExclusive
* Wagner: ''Der fliegende Holländer'' (Hofmann, van Dam; Karajan, 1981–83) EMI
* Mercadante: ''La vestale'' (Cécchele; Šutej, 1987) iveBongiovanni
* Berlioz: ''La mort de Cléopâtre'' (Eschenbach, 1988) Supraphon
* Krenek: ''Orpheus und Eurydice'' (Hamilton; Steinberg, 1990) iveOrfeo
* Brahms: ''Alto Rhapsody'' (Eschenbach, 1992) Virgin Classics

Abridged videography

* Puccini: ''Suor Angelica'' (Plowright; Gavazzeni, Bussotti, 1983) iveKultur
* Wagner: ''Lohengrin'' (Studer, Domingo; Abbado, Weber, 1990) iveImage Entertainment

References

* ''Documenta Dunja Vejzović'', VERO ''Vision'', 2003 ith companion Compact Disc of performances from 1966 to 2002
*

External links

* .

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vejzovic, Dunja
1943 births
Living people
Croatian operatic sopranos
Operatic mezzo-sopranos
Musicians from Zagreb
Vladimir Nazor Award winners
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Academic staff of the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
20th-century Croatian women opera singers
Yugoslav women opera singers