Lipkovska, Lydia (Yakovlevna)
Lipkovska, Lydia (Yakovlevna)
Lipkovska, Lydia (Yakovlevna), Russian soprano; b. Babino, Bessarabia, May 10, 1882; d. Beirut, Jan. 22, 1955. She studied with Iretzkaya in St. Petersburg and Vanzo in Milan. She made her debut as Gilda at the St. Petersburg Imperial Opera (1907), singing there until 1908 and again from 1911 to 1913. She appeared in Diaghilev’s season in Paris (1909), as well as at the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique. Her American debut took place with the Boston Opera on Nov. 12, 1909, when she sang Lakmé; on Nov. 18,1909, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Violetta, singing there until 1911 and in Chicago in 1910–11; also appeared at London’s Covent Garden as Mimi (July 11, 1911). After the Russian Revolution of 1917, she was active in Paris. In 1920 she toured the U.S. and in 1921–22 appeared at the Chicago Grand Opera. She sang at the Odessa Opera (1941–44) and then returned to Paris. Her last years were spent as a teacher in Beirut.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire