Cuza Efrosinia

About

Efrosinia Cuza, born in 1856 in Tîrnova, Bessarabia, was one of the most remarkable dramatic sopranos on the Russian stage during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After graduating from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1880, where she studied under professors Stanislav Gabel and Natalia Iretskaya, she refined her skills in Paris with Maria Sass, returning to Russia with exceptional vocal training. Her debut on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre on February 28, 1894, in the role of Valentina in Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "Les Huguenots," marked the beginning of a brilliant career that lasted until 1910. Cuza built an extraordinary reputation as the principal soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, where she performed from 1894 to 1905 and again from 1907 to 1910, with a three-year period at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in between. The renowned tenor Fyodor Shalyapin considered her the best performer of the role of Judith on the Russian stage, and the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov deeply appreciated her talent. Her voice was characterized by remarkable uniformity across all registers, with a dense and velvety timbre, and an extended vocal range that allowed her to equally perform lyrical, dramatic, and even comic parts. Among her emblematic roles were Judith in Andrei Serov's opera, Nasha in Dargomyzhsky's "Rusalka," Yaroslavna in Borodin's "Prince Igor," Lisa in Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades," and numerous characters from the operas of Wagner, Verdi, and Mozart. Efrosinia's personal life was marked by her marriage to the Russian composer and conductor Iulii Bleihman, whom she inspired the song "I Saw You in a Dream." Also known by the pseudonym Valentina Cuza, the artist distinguished herself not only as an opera singer but also as a distinguished chamber singer, and the Russian novels of her time were full of admiration for the depth and penetration of her interpretation of Russian romances. Efrosinia passed away on May 28, 1910, in Saint Petersburg, at the age of only 54, shortly after her husband's death, and was buried in the Mitrofanievski Lutheran Cemetery alongside Bleihman.