Erika Miklósa (born 9 June 1970) is a Hungarian

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano () is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile run (music), runs, leaps and Trill (music), trills. The term ''coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, whi ...

Career

Born in the southern Hungarian town of

Kiskunhalas Kiskunhalas (; ) is a city in the county of Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Railroad The city is an important railway junction. It crosses the Budapest-Subotica-Belgrade railway line. The Kiskunfélegyháza railway ends in Kiskunhalas. Geography Kisk ...

, she spent her youth as an athlete training for the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. Miklósa was Hungarian Junior Champion in the high jump. However, an accident forced her to switch career paths. Because of her good singing skills she chose to be a singer. At first, she sang at family gatherings, weddings, and formal celebrations. On one such occasion, a singing-master heard her and almost immediately began to teach the 16-year-old. Soon she went on to study music at the Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

as well as in Milan and New York. She became a soloist at the

Hungarian State Opera The Hungarian State Opera is the national opera company of Hungary. Located in Budapest, it is a busy institution, with over 200 operas each calendar year, on top of extensive educational programs, ballet, and musical theatre. The company employs ...

in 1990. Her signature role is the Queen of the Night from Mozart's ''

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 ...

''. She sang also at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in London, at 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 ...

, at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in New York and many more famous opera houses. In 2004, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in her signature Queen of the Night role.

Awards and commendations

*Pro Opera Lyrica – Opera Singer of the Year 1993 (Hungary) *International Mozart Competition – 1st Prize in voice category (1993) *European Award for Culture, Zurich (1995) *Order of Merit Member Cross (Hungary, 1998) *Honorary Citizen of Kiskunhalas (1999) *Artist of

Bács County BACS is the Bankers Automated Clearing Services, a scheme for the electronic processing of financial transactions. BACS or Bács may also refer to: Organisations * Bay Area Christian School, in League City, Texas, US * Boston Archdiocesan Choi ...

(2003) *

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize (, ) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1936, by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and grou ...

(2012)

Discography

* ''Die Zauberflöte'' (2006) with

Dorothea Röschmann Dorothea Röschmann (born 17 June 1967) is a German soprano. She is famous for her performances in operas by Mozart as well as Lieder. Early life Röschmann was born in Flensburg, and sang with the Flensburg Bach Choir by the age of seven. She st ...

, Christoph Strehl,

René Pape René Pape (born 4 September 1964) is a German operatic bass. Pape has received two Grammys, was named "Vocalist of the Year" by Musical America in 2002, "Artist of the Year" by the German opera critics in 2006, and won an ECHO award (the German ...

;

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...

conducting;

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

* ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' (2009) Sony * ''The Magic Flute'' (2011), Metropolitan Opera

References

External links

* * *
Performance schedule
at

Operabase Operabase is an online global database for audiences and professionals. It lists details on opera performances, opera houses and companies, and performers as well as their agents. It was founded in 1996 by English software engineer and opera love ...

* , medley ("

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

"/"

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

") from ''

'' with

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Hungary greets FIFA delegation: Erika Miklosa sings for Blatter.
Fifa.com

, Hungarian embassy in London, News
Erika Miklosa'a performance in ''Die Zauberflöte'' reviewed
''The Stage Reviews'', 30 January 2008

SpearHeadnews.com 1970 births Living people Hungarian operatic sopranos People from Kiskunhalas Academy of Vocal Arts alumni 20th-century Hungarian women opera singers 21st-century Hungarian women opera singers {{Hungary-opera-singer-stub