Welitsch (real name, Velickova), Ljuba
Welitsch (real name, Veličkova), Ljuba
Welitsch (real name, Veličkova), Ljuba, remarkable Bulgarian-born Austrian soprano; b. Bor isso vo, July 10, 1913. She studied violin as a child. After attending the Sofia Cons, and the Univ. of Sofia, she studied voice with Lierhammer in Vienna. In 1936 she made her operatic debut at the Sofia Opera, and after singing in Graz (1937-40), Hamburg (1942-43), and Munich (1943-46), she joined the Vienna State Opera, having sung there previously at the 80th birthday celebration for Richard Strauss on June 11, 1944, as Salome, which became her most celebrated role. She made her London debut with the visiting Vienna State Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni on Sept. 20, 1947, a role she repeated in 1948 at the Glyndebourne Festival. On Feb. 4, 1949, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Salome, remaining on the company’s roster until 1952; she sang at London’s Covent Garden in 1953. In subsequent years, she appeared in character roles in Vienna; returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1972 in a speaking role in La Fille du régiment. Among her other notable roles were Aida, Musetta, Minnie, Rosalinde, Jenûfa, and Tosca.
Bibliography
E. Benke, L W. (Vienna, 1994).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire