Agnes Baltsa

Agni Baltsa (; also known as Agnes Baltsa; born 19 November 1944) is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano singer.

Baltsa was born in Lefkada. She began playing piano at the age of seven, 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 on a Maria Callas scholarship.

Baltsa made her first appearance in an opera in 1968 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Frankfurt Opera, Neil Shicoff, and others. She has also sung works by Mozart (notably Così fan tutte), Rossini (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Semiramide, L'italiana in Algeri), Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana), Saint-Saëns (Samson et Dalila), Verdi (Aida, La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Don Carlos), Bellini (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Offenbach (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) and Donizetti (Il Campanello, Maria Stuarda).

She starred in the Austrian film Duett in 1992, playing an opera singer.

In 2017, she sang Klytemnestra in Richard Strauss's Elektra at the Greek National Opera's new premises at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

Awards, Honors, and Memberships

1980: Kammersängerin (Austria) 1988: Honorary member (Vienna State Opera) 1993: Members (European Academy of Arts and Sciences) Prix du Prestige Lyrique Deutscher Schallplattenpreis Gold Medal of the City of Vienna Gold Medal of the City of Athens Wilhelm-Furtwängler Award 2025: Lifetime Achievement Award (International Opera)

Discography

Operas