Opera Singer. A noted coloratura soprano, she shall be remembered for her long career with the Bavarian State Opera (BSO). Born in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, she trained as a dancer from age seven and at 19 was prima ballerina of the Budapest Opera when forced by an injury to change careers; following vocal study she made her 1939 debut with the Budapest Opera as Gilda from Verdi's "Rigoletto" but soon found her career put on hold by the war. Unable to escape from Communist Hungary until 1948 she initially joined the Zurich Opera then the Vienna Volksoper. Sari was a member of the BSO from 1949 thru 1971 and of the Vienna State Opera from 1949 until 1961, building her reputation on such staples of the coloratura repertoire as Gilda, Adele from Rossini's "Le Comte Ory", Konstanze of Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Zerbinetta from Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos", the title lead of Leo Delibes' "Lakme", Philine from Ambrose Thomas' "Mignon", and the Queen of the Night in Mozart's "The Magic Flute". She made her 1950 San Francisco debut as the Queen of the Night, was first heard at London's Covent Garden in 1951 as Gilda, and in 1953 bowed at Glyndebourne as Konstanze. In 1955 Sari provided Ludmilla Tcherina's singing voice for "Oh...Rosalinda!!", a film spoof based on Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus", joined her husband tenor Franz Klarwein in an acclaimed 1961 Passau presentation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana", received the honourary title of Kammersangerin in 1963, and in 1969 was praised for her part in a London production of the Strauss biopic "The Great Waltz". Having gradually retired from opera in the early 1970s she earned rave reviews as the title lead in a 1978 Munich Gartnerplatz production of "Hello, Dolly!!". Sari last appeared onstage on December 20, 1998, at the Gartnerplatz in the speaking role of Princess Anhilte in Kalman's "The Gypsy Princess", lived out her days in Munich, and died of a stroke. At her death much of her recorded legacy remained in print.
Opera Singer. A noted coloratura soprano, she shall be remembered for her long career with the Bavarian State Opera (BSO). Born in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, she trained as a dancer from age seven and at 19 was prima ballerina of the Budapest Opera when forced by an injury to change careers; following vocal study she made her 1939 debut with the Budapest Opera as Gilda from Verdi's "Rigoletto" but soon found her career put on hold by the war. Unable to escape from Communist Hungary until 1948 she initially joined the Zurich Opera then the Vienna Volksoper. Sari was a member of the BSO from 1949 thru 1971 and of the Vienna State Opera from 1949 until 1961, building her reputation on such staples of the coloratura repertoire as Gilda, Adele from Rossini's "Le Comte Ory", Konstanze of Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Zerbinetta from Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos", the title lead of Leo Delibes' "Lakme", Philine from Ambrose Thomas' "Mignon", and the Queen of the Night in Mozart's "The Magic Flute". She made her 1950 San Francisco debut as the Queen of the Night, was first heard at London's Covent Garden in 1951 as Gilda, and in 1953 bowed at Glyndebourne as Konstanze. In 1955 Sari provided Ludmilla Tcherina's singing voice for "Oh...Rosalinda!!", a film spoof based on Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus", joined her husband tenor Franz Klarwein in an acclaimed 1961 Passau presentation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana", received the honourary title of Kammersangerin in 1963, and in 1969 was praised for her part in a London production of the Strauss biopic "The Great Waltz". Having gradually retired from opera in the early 1970s she earned rave reviews as the title lead in a 1978 Munich Gartnerplatz production of "Hello, Dolly!!". Sari last appeared onstage on December 20, 1998, at the Gartnerplatz in the speaking role of Princess Anhilte in Kalman's "The Gypsy Princess", lived out her days in Munich, and died of a stroke. At her death much of her recorded legacy remained in print.
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Bio by: Bob Hufford