- Zara Dolukhanova
Zara Dolukhanova ( _hy. Զառա Դոլուխանովա) (b.
5 March 1918 ,Moscow, Russia [cite book | last = Slonimsky | first = Nicolas | authorlink = | coauthors = Theodore Baker | title = Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Eighth Edition | publisher = Schirmer Books | date = 1992 | location = New York, New York | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ] –5 December 2007 ) was anArmenia nmezzo-soprano andcontralto .Dolukhanova's voice was a rare coloratura-mezzo, of unique clarity and unusually wide range (late in life she started to perform the soprano repertoire). Considered one of the great singers of the Soviet era, Dolukhanova was notable for her championing of the operas of
Gioachino Rossini . She also often appeared as an alto soloist in oratorios and cantatas by Bach and Handel. In 1966, she was awarded theLenin Prize . [ [http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2007/12/04/guyj/ Panorma.am: Zara Dolukhanyan died] ] [ [http://www.armtown.com/news/am/prm/20071204/29454 hy icon Zara Dulukhanyan] ]Life
Dolukhanova was born Zara Makaryan, in
Moscow , to Armenian musical parents - her mother, Elena Makaryan, was a singer, and her father, Aghasi Makaryan, was aflautist ,clarinettist andtrumpeter . She first studied the piano, then the violin, but finally decided at age 16 that she wanted to study singing. She studied at theGnessin Institute in Moscow with V. Belyayeva-Tarassevitch. She made her operatic debut in 1938 with theYerevan Opera as Siebel in Gounod's Faust.During
World War II , Dolukhanova worked at the Opera Theatre of Yerevan and married the composer Alexander Dolukhanian. She left the stage in 1944, when she became a soloist withMoscow Radio and then in 1959 a leading soloist with theMoscow Philharmonic Orchestra .In the 1970s, she retired from singing and taught at the Gnessin Institute. Among her pupils was the mezzo-soprano
Olga Borodina .She died in Moscow.
Recordings
* Rossini: "L'italiana in Algeri": Zara Dolukhanova, A. Nikitin, Vladimir Zakharov, Georgi Abramov, Anatoly Tikhonov,
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra , Moscow Radio Chorus, conductor:Samuil Samosud . Gala Records, 1951.References
*cite book | last = Warrack| first = John, and Ewan West| year = 1992| title = The Oxford Dictionary of Opera| publisher = Oxford University Press| location = Oxford| id = ISBN 0-19-869164-5
External links
* [http://www.ninasvetlanova.com/Doloukhanova/ZaraDoloukhanova.html Official English Website]
* [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Dolukhanova-Zara.htm Biography]
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