Peter Schreier he had decided to become a professional singer he took lessons, at first privately, then later on at the Dresden Academy of Music. He had enough time to also study choral and orchestral conducting. Peter Schreier made his professional debut in August 1959, playing the role of the First Prisoner in "Fidelio" by Beethoven. In the years that followed he was successful as Belmonte in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" (Abduction from the Seraglio) and somewhat later as Tamino in "Die Zauberflöte" (The Magic Flute), both operas by Mozart. In 1963, he was employed by the Berlin State Opera at
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