Elena Obraztsova

Elena Obraztsova studied under Professor Grigorjeva at the Leningrad Conservatoire and graduated in 1964. In 1999 Elena returned to live performances after a distinguished period of recording as Granny in the company premiere of The Gambler. Her first appearance at the Met came during the Bolshoi Opera’s 1975 visit here, when she sang Marina in Boris Godunov, among other roles. She made her Met debut the following year as Amneris in Aida, and has also been heard here as Adalgisa in Norma, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Charlotte in Werther, Dalila, and Carmen. Born in St. Petersburg, she began her career at the Bolshoi in 1964 as Marina, and went on to sing at all the world’s leading opera houses, including Azucena at Covent Garden and San Francisco Opera and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana and Eboli in Don Carlo at La Scala.

Elena Obraztsova is a professor of the Moscow Conservatoire (1984) and gives extended master-classes at the Tokyo Music Academy, Japan and at the Mariinsky Theatre Academy of young opera singers in St. Petersburg. She is now a distinguished and regular judge of international competitions including the International Elena Obraztsova Competition of young opera singers (St.Petersburg) and the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In June 2007 Obraztsova was appointed as the artistic director for opera at Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg

Elena Obraztsova has been honoured with many awards, and the Honorary medal of the Academy of Russian Art (1999).