Born: 19 November 1944, Greece
Died: NA
Country most active: Germany, Austria
Also known as: Greek: Aγνή Mπάλτσα; also known as Agnes Baltsa
Agni Baltsa is a prominent mezzo-soprano opera singer.
Baltsa began playing piano at age 6, moving to Athens in 1958 to focus on singing. She graduated from the Greek National Conservatoire in 1965, then travelled to Munich to continue studying, thanks to a Maria Callas scholarship.
Baltsa made her debut performance in 1968 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Frankfurt Opera, and went on to sing the role of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera in 1970. She became a regular at the renowned Salzburg Festival, and was named Kammersängerin (an honorific title for distinguished opera singers, literally “chamber singer”) of the Vienna State Opera in 1980.
Her best-known role is the title character of Bizet’s Carmen, and 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 as an opera singer in the Austrian film Duett in 1992. In 2017, she sang the role of Klytemnestra in Richard Strauss’s Elektra at the Greek National Opera’s new site at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.