Ara Berberian Ara Berberian Ara Berberian (, May 14, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan - February 21, 2005 in Boynton Beach, Florida, ) was an American bass and actor who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and musicals from the early 1960s until his retirement from the stage in 1997. He notably had an 18-year association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where he gave a total of 334 performances between 1979-1997. He sang over 100 roles during his career, including those of Osmin in Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio" and Sparafucile in Verdi's "Rigoletto". Born in Detroit, Berberian
Ileana Cotrubaș study at the "Școala Specială de Muzică" school for the musically gifted. Cotrubaș made her stage debut with the Bucharest Opera as Yniold in Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande" in 1964. She subsequently expanded her repertory to include roles such as Oscar in "Un ballo in maschera", Gilda in "Rigoletto", and Blondchen in "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and began appearing in productions throughout Europe. In 1965, Cotrubaș won an important competition in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands where she won first prize in opera, lieder, and oratorio. The following year, she won a radio-television competition in Munich. Those awards, together with her great