Boris Vajda

Boris Vajda (born February 2, 1933 in Novska , Kingdom of Yugoslavia ; † March 9, 2015 in Zagreb , Croatia ) was a Yugoslav opera singer with a bass-baritone voice .

Life

Vajda studied singing in Zagreb; there he completed his vocal studies at the Zagreb Music Academy . His teachers included u. a. the well-known Yugoslav singing teacher Lav Vrbanić . Already during his training he was involved in student productions, performed as a soloist a. a. as part of the May celebrations and sang on Croatian Radio in Zagreb. As a young singer he took part in several film and television productions of operas, including a. as Count Gil in Susannen's Secret , as Herr Fluth in Die Lustige Frauen von Windsor , as Count Tomski in Queen of Spades and as Ramino in Maurice Ravel's one-act play The Spanish Hour .

He got his first engagement as an opera singer at the Zagreb "Komödie" (Zagrebačko Gradsko Kazalište "Komedija"). There he sang numerous roles in comic operas , game operas , operettas and musical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s . He stepped there u. a. in Le comte Ory (as Raimbaud), The Secret Marriage (as Merchant Geronimo), in Carl Orff's one-act play Der Mond , in the operettas Pariser Leben (as Baron Gondremarck), The beautiful Helena and The Bird Trader (as Baron Weps) as well as in works Croatian composers such as Ivo Tijardović , Ivan Zajc and Jakov Gotovac .

In 1969 he was engaged at the Zagreb National Opera. There he sang both the Slavonic and Italian baritone subjects , but also numerous bass roles, especially comic roles for bass buffo . His roles at the Zagreb National Opera included a. a. Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro , Bartolo in The Barber of Seville , the title role in Prince Igor , Kruschina in The Bartered Bride , Consul Sharpless in Madama Butterfly , the sacristan in Tosca (who for many years was “a scenic-musical miniature of high quality “Was) and König Treff in Love for the Three Oranges .

In the field of the Croatian National Opera he played a. a. Levi in Zajc's opera Nikola Subic Zrinjski and in particular the title role in Gotovac's eighth opera Stanac .

Vajda's repertoire included about fifty major operatic roles; he also appeared as a concert singer. Vajda interpreted numerous leading roles, but also supporting roles, to which he gave an individual profile. Vajda's voice had an "unmistakable timbre with recognition value". His voice was characterized by "beauty of sound, good singing technique and a balanced balance of the various vocal registers ". He was also considered an effective stage performer. With the ensemble of the Croatian National Opera he has performed a. a. in Salzburg , Vienna , Luxembourg , Venice , Trieste (1973/1974 season in The Bartered Bride ), Geneva , Athens , Prague , Moscow and Japan ( Tokyo , Osaka ).

He celebrated his 45th stage anniversary in the role of Fra Melitone in Verdi's opera The Power of Fate . In 1991 he officially took leave of the opera stage, but continued to perform occasionally afterwards. In 2001 he was awarded the “Zlatno zvono” (for example: “Golden Bell”) prize from the Croatian Society of Musicians (Hrvatsko društvo glazbenih umjetnika; Croatian Society of Music Artists) at a festival performance at the Zagreb National Opera. On the occasion of the award ceremony, Vajda sang the role of Fra Melitone again.

Vajda's voice is known through several recordings on the Jugoton label as well as radio and television recordings from the Zagreb National Opera and the Zagreb Operetta Theater (including 1975 as Morales in Carmen , 1988 as Silvano in Un ballo in maschera , 1992 as gardener Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro and 1998 as prison director Frank in Die Fledermaus ).

Vajda lived in Zagreb in the last years of his life. He died in early March 2015 at the age of 82. He was buried on March 12, 2015 in the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Preminuo Boris Vaja - Obituary (serbokr.); Teatar.hr of March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.

personal data
SURNAME	Vajda, Boris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Yugoslav opera singer with a bass-baritone voice
DATE OF BIRTH	February 2, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH	Novska , then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
DATE OF DEATH	March 9, 2015
Place of death	Zagreb

[Teatar-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Preminuo Boris Vaja - Obituary (serbokr.); Teatar.hr of March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.