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Born: January 15, 1908 - Saloniki, Greece
Died: February 2, 1984 - Zürich, Switzerland |
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The Greek soprano, Margherita [Margarita] Perras, was discovered by her parents at a very early age and she would sing in churches with solos, at weddings and funerals. She studied with the well-known voice teacher Oscar Daniel at the Musikhochschule Berlin.
Margherita Perras was discovered in 1927 by Bruno Walter at a High School performance where she sang Norina in Don Pasquale. She made early professional debut as Barbarina under Bruno Walter (who became her mentor) at the Berlin State Opera in 1927, and debut as Violetta at the Wiener Staatsoper in 1935. She was engaged at the Berliner Städtische Oper (1927), later Berliner Staatsoper ‘Unter den Linden’ from 1928 to 1935. She made tours to Spain and South America (including Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and Opera of Rio de Janeiro, 1928-1929). She appeared as a guest at the Stadttheater Zürich (1934-1935), at the Salzburg Festival (1935), at the Wiener Staatsoper (1935-1940/1946-1947), at the Covent Garden Opera in London (1936), at the Grand Opéra Paris (1936), and at the Glyndebourne Festival (1937).
Margherita Perras roles included Barbarina and Susanna and Cherubino in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro; Zerlina in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni; Hannele in Hanneles Himmelfahrt (Graener); Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck); Königin der Nacht in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte; Philine in Mignon (Thomas); Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini); Konstanze in W.A. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Gilda in Rigoletto (Verdi); Oscar in Un Ballo in maschera (Verdi); Rosalina in Il Re (Giordano); Lakmé in Lakmé (Délibes); Nedda in I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo); Mimì in La Bohème (Puccini); Liù in Turandot (Puccini); Micaela in Carmen (Georges Bizet); Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss); Isabella of Spain/First performance Christophe Colomb (Milhaud); Violetta in La Traviata (Verdi); Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss).
Margherita Perras retired from the opera stage in 1939 and moved to Zürich where she concentrated her career on concert appearances and song recitals. Margeritha Perras was a highly regarded interpreter of the songs by Othmar Schoeck. She was married to a Swiss psychiatrist. |
