Varady, Julia
Varady, Julia
Varady, Julia, Hungarian-born German soprano; b. Nagyvárad, Sept. 1, 1941. She received training at the Cluj Cons, and the Bucharest Cons. In 1962 she made her operatic debut as Fiordiligi at the Cluj Opera, where she sang until 1970. From 1970 to 1972 she was a member of the Frankfurt am Main Opera. In 1972 she joined the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In 1974 she made her British debut as Gluck’s Alcestis with Glasgow’s Scottis Opera during its visits to the Edinburgh Festival. She made her first appearance at the Salzburg Festival in 1976 as Mozart’s Elettra. On March 10,1978, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Mozart’s Donna Elvira. On July 9,1978, she created the role of Cordelia in Reimann’s Learin Munich. While continuing to sing in Munich, she also appeared as a guest artist in Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and other operatic centers. In 1984 she was engaged as Idomeneo at Milan’s La Scala. She portrayed Senta at London’s Covent Garden in 1992. In 1997 she sang Aida at the Munich Festival. Among her other roles are Countess Almaviva, Elisabeth de Valois, Tatiana, Desdemona, and Lady Macbeth. Her concert repertoire embraces works from Mozart to Reimann. In 1977 she married Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire