Obraztsova, Elena Vasilevna

Born July 7, 1939, in Leningrad. Soviet Russian mezzo-soprano. People’s Artist of the USSR (1976).

In 1964, Obraztsova graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory, where she had studied voice under A. A. Grigor’eva. In the same year she became a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. She has sung the role of Marfa in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, Liubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride, and Amneris and Azucena in Verdi’s Aïda and Il Trovatore, respectively. Obraztsova’s roles have also included the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, Dalila in Saint-Saëns’ Samson el Dalila, Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, and Hélène Bezukhova and Fros’ka in Prokofiev’s War and Peace and Semen Kotko, respectively.

Obraztsova has performed abroad. In 1973 she sang the title role in a new production of Carmen at the Pérez Galdós Theater in Madrid; she also appeared as Carmen in Marseille, Brno, and Plzeft. In 1976 she sang the role of Charlotte at La Scala in Milan.

Obraztsova received the Lenin Prize in 1976 and the Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR in 1973. She received first prize at the Glinka All-Union Competition of Vocalists in 1962, at the R. Vińes International Vocal Competition Festival in Barcelona in 1970, and at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970. Obraztsova has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.