Margarita Voites in Act 3 of "La traviata"

MARGARITA VOITES (1936-2024), a legendary coloratura soprano and the long-time primadonna assoluta of the Estonian Opera, first appeared on stage in 1957 when a group of students at the Tartu University played the operetta by Imre Kálmán "The Violet of Montmartre". The success urged Margarita to leave the University and to study singing at the Tallinn Conservatoire (now the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). In 1964 she became a soloist at the oldest theatre in Estonia, the Vanemuine in Tartu. There she attracted attention with her first brilliant roles: Violetta in "La Traviata", Gilda in "Rigoletto" and Marguerite in "Faust".

In 1969 Margarita Voites became the primadonna of the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. In addition to the above-mentioned roles she sang with great success Lucia di Lammermoor, Alcina, Norina in "Don Pasquale", Fiorilla in "Il turco in Italia", Mme Herz in "Der Schauspieldirektor", Olympia in "Les contes d'Hoffmann" and others.

In 1979 Margarita Voites received the most important recognition of the Soviet era, the title of a People's Artist of the USSR. She was also the first Estonian female singer to perform on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (1973). Voites has given an enormous quantity of recitals in Estonia, all over the former USSR, in many European countries, Japan, India, Canada etc.

Although Margarita Voites finished her career at the Estonian National Opera in 1990, her voice could be heard in churches and concert halls until 2018.

This recording is made in 1987 at the Estonian National Opera. The orchestra is conducted by Peeter LILJE (1950-1993).