Asta Vihandi (born Asta Kronberg; 21 July 1929 – 5 March 1993) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n opera and operetta

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, stage and film actress, and dancer whose career began in 1947 at the age of eighteen. Vihandi's longest engagement was at the

Estonian National Opera Estonian National Opera (''Rahvusooper Estonia'') is the national opera company of Estonia. The company is based at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn. The theatre has had several names throughout its existence. The latest one being "The Estonian Na ...

, which lasted from 1950 until 1985. Later in life, she worked as an administrator for the National Philharmonic of the Estonian SSR.

Early life and education

Asta Vihandi was born Asta Kronberg in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

to August and Lilli Kronberg (''née'' Zoo). She had one sibling. Vihandi attended primary and secondary schools in Tartu, graduating from Tartu Secondary School No.5 in 1947. In 1946, she studied ballet at the

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It is the first Estonian language, Estonian-language theatre. Stemming from the Vanemuine Society (1865), the theatre's first performance was Lydia Koidula's ''Saaremaa Onupoeg'' ("The cousin from S ...

Ballet Studio, and also took singing lessons in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

under the instruction of vocal pedagogue Klaudia Taev and under instruction of Linda Saul and Elsa Maasik in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Career

Stage

In 1947, shortly after graduating from secondary school, Vihandi began a year-long engagement at the Vanemuine theatre in Tartu as a soprano choral singer. The following year, she joined the

Endla Theatre Endla () is a professional theatre in city of Pärnu, Estonia. The roots of the theatre came from Endla Society. The theatre opened in 1911. The first performance was ''Libahunt'' (The Werewolf) by the Estonian writer August Kitzberg. The Es ...

in Pärnu as an actress, dancer, and choral singer, leaving in 1950. Vihandi's longest engagement was as a ''

prima donna In opera or ''commedia dell'arte'', a prima donna (; Italian for 'first lady'; : ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the ''prime'' roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pe ...

'' with the

in Tallinn, from 1950 until 1985, leaving to become an administrator of the National Philharmonic of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

(now,

Eesti Kontsert Eesti Kontsert is an Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south b ...

Film

In addition to roles as an opera singer and stage actress, Vihandi also appeared in a number of roles in film, beginning with a leading role of Elizaveta Lomonosova in the 1955 Aleksandr Ivanov-directed

Russian-language Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russians. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de j ...

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

drama '' Mikhaylo Lomonosov''. Notable appearances in Estonian-language films include the role of Heli in the 1957 drama ''Pöördel'', the role of Luisa in the 1958 drama ''Esimese järgu kapten'', and the role of Teele in the 1960 historical drama ''Perekond Männard''. All three of which were produced by Tallinna Kinostuudio (now,

Tallinnfilm Tallinnfilm () is the oldest surviving film studio in Estonia. It was founded as Estonian Culture Film in 1931, and was nationalized in 1940 after Estonia was integrated into the Soviet Union. During the first year of Soviet occcupation (1940 ...

) and directed by Vihandi's second husband Aleksandr Mandrõkin. In 1972, she had a small role in the popular

Sulev Nõmmik Sulev Nõmmik (11 January 1931, in Tallinn – 28 July 1992, in Kuressaare) was an Estonian theatre and movie director, actor, humorist and comedian. He's mostly associated with the comical character of Kärna Ärni and the related fictional villag ...

-directed comedy television film ''

Noor pensionär ''A Young Retiree'' () is a 1972 Estonian comedy film directed by Sulev Nõmmik and written by himself and Enn Vetemaa. Together with ''Viimne reliikvia'', ''Siin me oleme!'' and ''Mehed ei nuta'', ''Noor pensionär'' is one of the most influenti ...

'' for Eesti Telefilm.

Personal life

In 1947, at age eighteen, Asta Kronberg married singer, actor, and photographer Oskar Vihandi. The couple divorced in 1958. Later, she married director Aleksandr Mandrõkin. Vihandi had one child. She died in 1993, aged 63, and was interred at the Forest Cemetery in the

Pirita Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts () of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Pirita occupies a relatively large area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 17,592 (as of 1 November 2014) is relatively small. ...

district of Tallinn.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vihandi, Asta 1929 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Estonian women opera singers Estonian operatic sopranos Estonian film actresses Soviet film actresses Burials at Metsakalmistu 20th-century Estonian actresses Actresses from Tartu