Elena Katulskaia

Born May 21 (June 2), 1888, in Odessa; died Nov. 19, 1966, in Moscow. Soviet Russian singer (lyric coloratura soprano) and teacher. People’s Artist of the USSR (1965).

Katul’skaia studied singing under I. P. Prianishnikov and graduated in 1909 from the St. Petersburg Conservatory (N. A. Iretskaia’s class). She made her debut that same year on the stage of the Mariinskii Theater. Between 1913 and 1946, Katul’skaia sang with the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR. An outstanding representative of Soviet vocal art, she possessed an exceptional musical talent, subtle taste, a sense of style, and extraordinary stage artistry.

Katul’skaia sang the lead roles for lyric and coloratura soprano, including Antonida and Liudmila in Ivan Susanin and Ruslan and Liudmila by Glinka, Martha and the Snow Maiden in The Tsar’s Bride and The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov, and Violetta and Gilda in La Traviata and Rigoletto by Verdi. She gave concerts frequently; her repertoire of chamber music included more than 700 works. Katul’skaia became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in 1950; her students included T. A.Milashkina and A. D. Maslennikov. She wrote articles on vocal art. Katul’skaia was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1950), three orders, and various medals.