Zdzisława Donat

Who is Zdzisława Donat?

Zdzisława Donat [Dŏnat] is a celebrated Polish coloratura soprano. She studied in Warsaw and Siena, where she was a pupil of Gino Bechi.

In 1964, Donat debuted in Poznań, as Gilda in Rigoletto, and later appeared in many international opera houses, including those in Toulouse, Helsinki, Warsaw, Moscow, Munich, Buenos Aires, Milan, Rome, Prague, Naples, Brussels, Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Hamburg, London, Paris, Verona, Orange, and Japan.

Donat made her American debut in 1975, at the San Francisco Opera, as the Queen of Night, opposite Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Alan Titus. In 1981, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the same role, with Lucia Popp as Pamina. She returned to that theatre in 1987, for Constanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, in John Dexter's production.

In 1980, she recorded, for RCA, her famed Queen of Night, with Ileana Cotrubaș, Eric Tappy, Christian Boesch, José van Dam, and Martti Talvela, conducted by James Levine. In 1989, Donat appeared in a film version of Der Schauspieldirektor.