Tsvetkova, Elena

(née Barsova). Born 1872 in Ufa; died July 1929 in Moscow. Russian singer (lyric-dramatic soprano).

In 1892, Tsvetkova graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where she studied under E. A. Lavrovskaia. In 1896 she became a soloist with the Moscow Private Russian Opera, and in 1899 she joined the Tovarishchestvo Private Opera. From 1904 to 1911 she performed with the S. I. Zimin Opera Theater.

Tsvetkova was an outstanding interpreter of the title role in Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans. Her other roles included the Snow Maiden and Militrisa in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden and The Tale of Tsar Sultan, Tatiana and Nastasia in Tchaikovsky’s Eugen Onegin and The Sorceress, Iaroslavna in Borodin’s Prince Igor, and Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème.

Tsvetkova retired from the stage in 1917 and taught at the Kiev Conservatory and in Moscow.