ЧИО-ЧИО САН-ы АРИ - АЖ А.ЗАГДСҮРЭН CIO-CIO SAN ARIA - A.ZAGDSUREN

Дж.Пуччини "Чио-Чио сан" дуурийн Чио-Чио сан-ын ари (монгол хэл дээр дуулсан дуурийн бичлэг / УДБЭТ 1971он) G.Puccini ''Madama Butterfly'' - Un bel di vedremo (sang in Mongolian / State Academic Theatre of Opera & Ballet 1971) BIOGRAPHY: A.Zagdsuren is a Prima Donna of Mongolian opera, the greatest operatic voice that Mongolia had ever produced and the greatest Mongolian soprano of all time. She was born in 1933 and made her way to the top due to her charisma and immense natural gift of her voice. In 1952-1954 she was one of the leading singers at the Central Theatre in Ulaanbaatar. Eventually she was noticed by a Russian opera singer from the Bolshoi Theatre who visited Mongolia in 1954 and who after all advised the President of Mongolia to send Zagdsuren to the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow. She had a very high prestige and solid professional esteem on the side of her teachers at the Conservatoire, especially by her vocal teacher Roza Yakovlevna Alpert, one of Russia's prominent vocal specialists. Upon Zagdsuren's graduation in 1959 vocal teachers at the Conservatoire were in a state of despair saying ''This girl is undoubtedly a world class singer. What will happen when she returns home? Does Mongolia have much to offer her?''. As soon as Zagdsuren returned home, she ought to prove to the nation that she had learnt the best and she must be the best operatic voice in Mongolia. In 1963 the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia premiered ''Eugene Onegin'' by Tchaikovsky. Zagdsuren sang the main female character Tatiyana and it was a great success. Her alluring voice delivered the most outstanding version of Tatiyana, a young woman, desperate for love, helpless and frustrated. ''This is probably the best ever interpretation of Tatiyana's character on the operatic scene'' said famous Mongolian composer and musicologist Jantsannorov. For more than 20 years Zagdsuren remained as the only leading prima of the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet and her vocal power had never been surpassed by any other Mongolian opera singer until today. Her grandest performances in ''Madame Butterly'' in 1967-1972, ''Rusalka'’ by A.Dargomijsky in 1968, grand national opera ''Amarsanaa'' by B.Damdinsuren in 1970 made her enormously popular abroad, especially in Russia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Japan and other countries. Her voice range is boundless and huge. Reaching the highest notes she managed to create a staggering staccato and going even higher she blasted a powerful diminuendo that equals or surpasses the one of Maria Callas and in terms of her coloratura, she sounds much closer to Renata Tebaldi. In all terms Zagdsuren was a world class opera singer who truly had rare god given gifts. Her contribution to the prosperity of operatic art in Mongolia is also great. She produced more than 50 professional opera singers while she worked as a vocal teacher-professor at the University of Art & Culture from 1980-2002. In 1999 Zagdsuren was ahonored with the highest award in artistic achievement, the ''State's Honored Artist of Mongolia''. Owned to the great achievements of our prominent opera singers such as Zagdsuren and upon their legacy the Mongolian operatic art is now considered to be as the most advanced and prestigious in Asia. During her concert in Yugoslavia in 1973, an Italian tenor and a producer from La Scala had a chance to meet her. They were overwhelmed with her voice, invited her to sing in La Scala and named Zagdsuren as "Maria Callas of Asia". Her vocal range was from F-sharp (F#3) below Middle C to E-natural (E6) above High C and spanned from mezzo-soprano to Wagnerian soprano.