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RIP Ileana Cotrubas
Posted by Ralph Moore on August 21, 2026, 12:13 am Edited by board administrator August 21, 2026, 3:28 pm
I note the passing of the great Romanian soprano and am reminded that among the many opera surveys I have posted, she is often the best thing in a recording. I am thinking here of her Héro in Barenboim's recording of Berlioz’s Béatrice & Bénédict, her Micaëla in Abbado's Carmen, her Leila in Prêtre's Les pêcheurs de perles and her Louise, Adina in Pritchard's L’elisir d’amore and her Gretel in his Hänsel und Gretel, her Manon for Plasson, Lauretta in Maazel's Gianni Schicchi,and of course her wonderfully touching Violetta in Kleiber's La traviata. What a diverse array of outstanding performances; she was a great - and sometimes formidable - artist.
Re: RIP Ileana Cotrubas
Posted by paul corfield godfrey on August 21, 2026, 11:02 am, in reply to "RIP Ileana Cotrubas"
Might I add also her singing of the title role in Peter Hall's Glyndebourne production of Cavalli's La Calisto in the delightfully inauthentic edition by Raymond Leppard, which was the first time I had encountered her? This performance, including also a spectacular comic turn by Janet Baker, really needs to be re-issued on DVD if the original Southern Television tapes survive.
