Sass, Sylvia
Sass, Sylvia
SaSS, Sylvia, Hungarian soprano; b. Budapest, July 21, 1951. She was a student of Olga Revghegyi at the Budapest Academy of Music, and later in her career received some lessons from Callas. In 1971 she made her operatic debut as Frasquita at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, where she subsequently sang many major roles. In 1972 she appeared as Violetta at the Bulgarian State Opera in Sofia. She made her first appearance at the Hamburg State Opera as Fiodiligi in 1975, the same year she made her debut at Glasgow’s Scottish Opera as Desdemona. In 1976 she sang Giselda at her debut at London’s Covent Garden and appeared as Violetta in Aix-en-Provence. On March 12, 1977, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Tosca. In 1979 she appeared in recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. In subsequent years, she sang in opera and concert in many major music centers. Among her other operatic roles were Donna Elvira, Countess Almaviva, Donna Anna, Lady Macbeth, Turandot, Salome, and Bartók’s Judith. Her concert repertoire extended from Bach to Messiaen.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire