Eugenia Miroshnichenko - Delibes: LAKME, Bell Song, Winnipeg, 1974 High E

THE SONGBIRD: Eugenia Miroshnichenko (Евгения Мирошниченко) (1931 - 2009) was born in a small village in Ukraine. She sang in choirs in her youth and was noticed in 1951 by a professor of the Kiev Conservatory, who invited her to study there. She graduated in 1957 and made her debut in the Kiev Opera Theater as Violetta. She sang with the company for over 30 years and taught voice in Kiev. In 1961, Miroshnichenko studied in Milan with Elvira de Hidalgo. This live selection is from a recital in Winnipeg, Canada in October 1974. It is me or does she drift sharp in the prelude -- my pitch pipe says the High E is nearly a High F. THE MUSIC: “Lakmé“ by Leo Delibes was first performed in 1883 in Paris. The work epitomizes the orientalist trend at the time through the perceived novelty of colonial English people in an exotic location, namely India. The title role, the daughter of a Hindu priest, is one of the cornerstones of the light coloratura soprano repertoire. It was written for Marie