Agnes Baltsa

(Aγνή Mπάλτσα) (born 19th November 1944 in Lefkada) is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano. She began playing piano at the age of six, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing. She graduated from the Greek National Conservatoire in 1965 and then travelled to Munich to continue studying under a Maria Callas scholarship. Baltsa made her first appearance in an opera in 1968 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Frankfurt Opera, before going on to appear as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera in 1970. Coming under the guidance of Herbert von Karajan, she soon came to worldwide attention and became a regular at the prestigious Salzburg Festival. She became Kammersängerin of the Vienna State Opera in 1980. Her most well known performance is that of Carmen by Georges Bizet, which she has sung a number of times with José Carreras. She has also sung works by Mozart (notably Così fan tutte), Rossini (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L'italiana in Algeri), Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana), Verdi (Aida, La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Don Carlos), Bellini (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) and Donizetti (Il Campanello, Maria Stuarda). She also starred in a German film Duett in 1992, playing an opera singer.