Zabela, Nadezhda Ivanovna

(married name, Vrubel’). Born Mar. 20 (Apr. 1), 1868, in Kaunas; died June 21 (July 4), 1913, in St. Petersburg. Russian singer (lyric coloratura soprano).

Zabela graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1891; she was a voice student of N. A. Iretskaia and O. 0. Palechek. She completed her training under M. Marchesi in Paris, where she performed in concerts with A. G. Rubinstein. Her singing reached its prime in her performances at S. I. Mamontov’s Moscow Private Opera from 1897 to 1902. Here, in operas by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, she created deeply poetic musical and dramatic portraits, including Ol’ga in The Maid of Pskov, Pannochka in May Night, the Snow Maiden in the work of the same name, and Volkhova in Sadko. For her, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the parts of Vera in The Boyarina Vera Sheloga, Marfa in The Tsar’s Bride, and the Swan Princess in The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Zabela sang in the Mariinskii Theater in St. Petersburg from 1904 to 1911. She frequently performed as a concert vocalist.