Arkhipova, Irina (Konstantinovna)
Arkhipova, Irina (Konstantinovna)
Arkhipova, Irina (Konstantinovna), outstanding Russian mezzo-soprano; b. Moscow, Dec. 2, 1925. She attended vocal classes at the Moscow Architectural Inst, graduating in 1948; then continued vocal training with Leonid Savransky at the Moscow Cons., graduating in 1953. She sang with the Sverdlovsk Opera (1954–56); then made her debut as Carmen at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater (1956), where she quickly rose to prominence; traveled with it outside Russia, garnering praise for her appearances at Milan’s La Scala (1965) and at the Montreal EXPO (1967). She appeared as Amneris at the San Francisco Opera in 1972 and as Azucena at London’s Covent Garden in 1975. In 1992 she sang the Countess in The Queen of Spades with the Kirov Opera of St. Petersburg during its visit to the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. She made her belated Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. in a minor role in Eugene Onegin in 1997. In 1966 she was made a People’s Artist of the U.S.S.R. She excelled particularly in the Russian repertoire, but also distinguished herself in French and Italian music.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire