Bandrowska-Turska, Ewa

Born May 20, 1899, in Kraków. Polish singer (lyric coloratura soprano).

Bandrowska-Turska was an outstanding performer of vocal lyric chamber works (she sang in six languages). She was famous for her subtle interpretations of the songs of K. Szymanowski and the French Impressionists. Bandrowska-Turska made her debut in Warsaw in 1918. She appeared as an opera and concert singer in Europe and America (1926–60). She toured the USSR many times (the first time in 1934).

Bandrowska-Turska’s best roles included Halka (in the work of the same name by Moniuszko), Lucia (Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor), Rosina (Rossini’s The Barber of Seville), Marguerite (Gounod’s Faust), Lakmé (Delibes’s Lakmé), Violetta (Verdi’s La Traviata), Gilda (Verdi’s Rigoletto), and others. Since 1946 she has been a professor at the Kraków Conservatory; later she became a professor at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1952, Bandrowska-Turska was awarded the State Prize of the Polish People’s Republic.