Opera Scotland

Sylvia Sáss Suggest updates

Born Budapest, 12 July 1951.

Hungarian soprano.

Sylvia Sáss made her only Scottish appearances in what was her British debut, giving a glorious performance as Desdemona at the re-opening of the restored Glasgow Theatre Royal. A rapidly launched international career took her to many of the major houses in Germany, France and the USA.

She studied in Budapest under Ferenc Revhegyi, making her debut there in 1971 as Frasquita, Her Glasgow appearances in Otello were followed by a Covent Garden debut in 1976 as Giselda in I Lombardi, a staging borrowed from Budapest that also featured José Carreras in fabulous form. She returned to the Royal Opera as Violetta, Elisabeth de Valois and Norma. Her debut at the London Proms was in the Verdi Requiem. She also sang in La traviata at Aix-en-Provence in 1976 and her Met debut in 1977 was in Tosca.

She made a number of recordings, including Judith in Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Donna Elvira, both with Solti. With her mentor Lamberto Gardelli she recorded Verdi roles such as Elvira in Ernani and Lina in Stiffelio, and the title role in Cherubini's Medea. She can also be heard as Gertrude in an important early Hungarian opera, Hunyadi Laszlo by Erkel - the highly attractive musical idiom is 'Donizetti with a dash of paprika'.