Basilides Mária
voice - alto
Place of Birth
Jolsva
Date of Birth
1886
11th November, 1886, Jolsva - 26th September, 1946, Budapest
Mária Basilides was born in Jolsva and studied singing in the opera department of the Budapest Academy of Music. In 1911 she joined the People's Opera company and made her début at the theatre's opening performance as Poppera in Jean Nogues's Quo vadis. In 1915 she became a member of the Opera House. Her exceptional talents soon emerged and her career with the company continued to prosper right up until her death the the age of sixty. She had a velvety, soft, dark voice. Of her style of performance, Aladár Tóth wrote, "Her personality is marked by the profoundest humility and the most intimate devotion; her productions radiate a monumental calm, the unshakable assurance of genuine, elemental temperaments." Her main roles were the Messenger in Monterverdi's Orfeo, Gluck's Orfeo and Klytaimnestra in Iphigénie en Aulide, Mignon, Azucena, Ulrica, Carmen, Dalila, Gertrudis in Bánk bán, the Countess in The Queen of Spades, Martha in Khovanshchina, Brangäne, Fricka, Erda, Waltraute, Herodias in Richard Strauss's Salome and the Housewife in Kodály's Spinning Room. She was also an excellent iterprete of Bartók's and Kodály's folksong arrangements, and gained wide popularity for her outstanding performances as a contraalto soloist of oratorios, proving indeed one of the best Hungarian performers of Bach, Händel, Haydn and Mahler. She conquered opera and concert audiences in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Prague, Copenhagen, Oslo and Antwerp. She was made a life member of the Opera.
Mária Basilides was born in Jolsva and studied singing in the opera department of the Budapest Academy of Music. In 1911 she joined the People's Opera company and made her début at the theatre's opening performance as Poppera in Jean Nogues's Quo vadis. In 1915 she became a member of the Opera House. Her exceptional talents soon emerged and her career with the company continued to prosper right up until her death the the age of sixty. She had a velvety, soft, dark voice. Of her style of performance, Aladár Tóth wrote, "Her personality is marked by the profoundest humility and the most intimate devotion; her productions radiate a monumental calm, the unshakable assurance of genuine, elemental temperaments." Her main roles were the Messenger in Monterverdi's Orfeo, Gluck's Orfeo and Klytaimnestra in Iphigénie en Aulide, Mignon, Azucena, Ulrica, Carmen, Dalila, Gertrudis in Bánk bán, the Countess in The Queen of Spades, Martha in Khovanshchina, Brangäne, Fricka, Erda, Waltraute, Herodias in Richard Strauss's Salome and the Housewife in Kodály's Spinning Room. She was also an excellent iterprete of Bartók's and Kodály's folksong arrangements, and gained wide popularity for her outstanding performances as a contraalto soloist of oratorios, proving indeed one of the best Hungarian performers of Bach, Händel, Haydn and Mahler. She conquered opera and concert audiences in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Prague, Copenhagen, Oslo and Antwerp. She was made a life member of the Opera.
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Bartók at the Piano 1. | Hungaroton | HCD 12326-28 | |
| 2016 |
Bartók, a zongorista
(Bartók the Pianist) |
Hungaroton |