Jenny Drivala (;

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

1957) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

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 ...

singer.

History

Drivala studied Byzantine literature at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, classical ballet ( Morianova School), acting at the National Theatre School, piano (under Aikis Pandzari and G. Arvanitaki) and singing (under Eirini Lambrinidou and Mireille Flery) at the Athens Conservatory. She completed her musical studies at the University of Bremen under John Modinos (1980). She debuted in the title role of Donizetti's ''

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

'' at the

Greek National Opera The Greek National Opera (, ''Ethniki Lyriki Skini'') is the country's state lyric opera company, located in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center at the south suburb of Athens, Kallithea. It is a public corporation under the supervisio ...

and at the

Teatro Petruzzelli The Teatro Petruzzelli is the largest theatre of the city of Bari and the fourth Italian theatre by size. History Origin and golden age The history of the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari begins when Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli, traders and ship ...

in Bari, Italy in 1983. From 1982 to 2007 she interpreted leading roles in approximately twenty operas: '' La traviata'', ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'', and ''

L'Assedio di Corinto ''Besieged'' (Italian title: ''L'assedio'') is a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci starring Thandie Newton and David Thewlis. The film is based on the short story "The Siege" by James Lasdun and was supposed to be a 60-minute teleplay until Bertolu ...

'' as Greek National Opera premieres, ''

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

'', ''

Anna Bolena ''Anna Bolena'' is a tragic opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's ''Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena'' and Alessandro Pepoli's ''Anna Bolena'', ...

'', ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

'', and '' Die sieben Todsünden'' as Greek National Opera premieres, ''

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'', ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'', ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

'', ''

Les contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'', ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

'', ''Faust'' (Athens Festival 1994), among others. Since 2008 she works as a director. She has sung in the world premieres of ''The Return of Helen'' by

Thanos Mikroutsikos Athanasios "Thanos" Mikroutsikos (; 13 April 1947 – 28 December 2019) was a Greece, Greek composer and politician. He is considered one of the most important composers of the recent Greek musical scene. Biography Personal life He was born on ...

(1993) and ''Antigone'' by

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' (1969), and '' Serpico'' (1973). He was a three-ti ...

(1999) at the

Athens Concert Hall The Athens Concert Hall ( Greek: Μέγαρον Μουσικής Αθηνών, ''Mégaron Mousikis Athinon'') is a concert hall located on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. The Hall was inaugurated in 1991 with two halls. Since then i ...

Awards

* Gold Medal at the International Singing Competition of Toulouse (1977) * Best Interpreter Award Spoleto, Italy * 1st prize at the Vincenzo Bellini International Competition, Italy (1983) * UNESCO Maria Callas Prize (2016) *

Traetta Prize The Traetta Prize () is an award assigned by the Traetta Society in recognition of achievements in the rediscovery of the roots of European music. The prize, conceived and promoted by the architect Gianfranco Spada, owes its name to the composer ...

(2018)

Recordings

* ''Songs I Love'' – London 1995 Sommrecords * ''The Crucifixion'' – Byzantine Opera by Y. Boufides Athens 1996 * ''Christmas 2000'' – Athens 2000 * ''Antigone'' – Opera by M.Theodorakis * '' Brentano Lieder'' – ''

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

'' - by R. Strauss * ''Aria'' – Athens (2006) – Arias by Bellini, Verdi, Meyerbeer, Mozard * Mozart: ''

Mitridate, Re di Ponto ''Mitridate, re di Ponto'' (''Mithridates, King of Pontus''), K. 87 (74a), is an opera seria in three acts by the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by , after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine's play '' Mithridate ...

'' (as Aspasia) – Teatro

la Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...

(1999), Concuctor: Roderick Brydon"

Cinema

*'' Malina'' by

Werner Schroeter Werner Schroeter (7 April 1945 – 12 April 2010) was a cinema of Germany, German film director, screenwriter, and opera director known for his stylistic excess. Schroeter was cited by Rainer Werner Fassbinder as an influence both on his own work ...

(1991) *' by Werner Schroeter (1996)

References

{{authority control 1957 births Living people Greek operatic sopranos People from Kalamata 21st-century Greek women opera singers 20th-century Greek women opera singers National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni University of Bremen alumni Greek opera singers