Gyurkovics, Maria

Born June 19, 1913, in Budapest. Hungarian coloratura soprano. People’s Artist of the Hungarian People’s Republic (1954).

Upon graduating from the Academy of Music in Budapest in 1937, Gyurkovics became a soloist at the Budapest Opera Theater.

She is best known for her roles in Hungarian national operas, including Melinda in Erkel’s Bank Ban, Máriska in Farkas’ The Wooers, and the King’s Bride in Kacsoh’s Knight Jdnos. She has also sung in classical and contemporary operas and oratorios. Since 1951 she has toured many countries of Eastern Europe, performing in the Soviet Union in 1954, 1955, and 1958.

Gyurkovics achieved her greatest success in the part of Lucia in Donizettïs Lucia di Lammermoor. Other roles include Gilda (Verdiïs Rigoletto), Zerlina, the Queen of the Night, and Constanze (Mozart’s Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, and Abduction From the Seraglio), and Olympia (Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann).