Opera Singer. A soprano of wide repertoire, she shall be remembered for her career at the Maribor Opera. The child of Slovenian-Italian parents, she relocated with her family to what was then Yugoslavia at a young age; Ondina returned to Trieste for training, then made her 1946 professional bow at Ljubljana as Rosina from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". She scored a hit, then spent the next few years refining her skills before moving to Milan in 1951 from whence she travelled to major venues throughout Europe. Ondina joined the Maribor Opera in 1958 and quickly established herself as Prima Diva, a position she maintained thru 1972, among the more noted of her roughly 67 roles at least three of Verdi's ladies, Violetta from "La Traviata", the doomed Gilda in "Rigoletto", and the unjustly accused Desdemona from "Otello", the vastly differing vocal requirements of the last two demonstrating her versatility. She also won praise as Marenka from Bedric Smetana's "The Bartered Bride" and as the title leads of Antonin Dvorak's "Rusalka", an operatic telling of the Little Mermaid legend, and Puccini's "Madame Butterfly". Retiring from the stage, she was for many years a professor at the Maribor Music Academy. In 2011, she was awarded the Betetto Prize, her country's highest artistic honor. At her death, she could be heard on a number of live and studio recordings, while a competition carrying her name which was started in 1999 remained in operation.
Opera Singer. A soprano of wide repertoire, she shall be remembered for her career at the Maribor Opera. The child of Slovenian-Italian parents, she relocated with her family to what was then Yugoslavia at a young age; Ondina returned to Trieste for training, then made her 1946 professional bow at Ljubljana as Rosina from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". She scored a hit, then spent the next few years refining her skills before moving to Milan in 1951 from whence she travelled to major venues throughout Europe. Ondina joined the Maribor Opera in 1958 and quickly established herself as Prima Diva, a position she maintained thru 1972, among the more noted of her roughly 67 roles at least three of Verdi's ladies, Violetta from "La Traviata", the doomed Gilda in "Rigoletto", and the unjustly accused Desdemona from "Otello", the vastly differing vocal requirements of the last two demonstrating her versatility. She also won praise as Marenka from Bedric Smetana's "The Bartered Bride" and as the title leads of Antonin Dvorak's "Rusalka", an operatic telling of the Little Mermaid legend, and Puccini's "Madame Butterfly". Retiring from the stage, she was for many years a professor at the Maribor Music Academy. In 2011, she was awarded the Betetto Prize, her country's highest artistic honor. At her death, she could be heard on a number of live and studio recordings, while a competition carrying her name which was started in 1999 remained in operation.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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