Preobrazhenskaia, Sofia

Born Sept. 14 (27), 1904, in St. Petersburg; died July 21, 1966, in Leningrad. Soviet Russian mezzo-soprano. People’s Artist of the USSR (1955).

Preobrazhenskaia studied under I. V. Ershov at the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1928 she made her debut at the Leningrad Theater of Opera and Ballet, where she performed until 1959. She had a powerful voice, noted for its rare beauty of timbre and wide range.

Preobrazhenskaia’s roles included Marfa in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, Joan of Arc in The Maid of Orleans (State Prize of the USSR, 1946), and the Countess in The Queen of Spades, both by Tchaikovsky, Liubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride, Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Grunia in Chishko’s The Battleship Potemkin, and Efrosin’ia in Kabalevskii’s Taras’ Family (State Prize of the USSR, 1951). She also sang in concert, performing such works as Mussorgsky’s vocal cycle Songs and Dances of Death.

Preobrazhenskaia was a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1949 to 1953. She was awarded two orders and various medals.