SYLVIA SASS: THE DECCA RECITALS (2 CDS)

Sylvia Sass was born near Budapest, Hungary, in 1951 to a very musical family. Her mother was a coloratura soprano and her father a high school music teacher. She made her stage debut at age 14 in Adam’s operetta Die Nürnberger Puppe and then commenced study at the celebrated Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, completing a five-year program in two. Her professional debut was as Frasquita in Carmen in 1971. Several awards followed – 1st prize at the Kodály Voice Competition in Budapest, 1972; winner at the International Opera Competition for Young Singers, of the Grand Prix as Violetta in La traviata, 1973, the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1974. She was also made an Honoured Artist of Hungary in 1977.While still in Budapest, she performed such dramatic roles as Freia in Das Rheingold, Violetta in La traviata and Mimi in La bohème. International stardom came with a composer with whom she is most associated and in a role represented on her Decca reci