# Agnes Baltsa

Agni Baltsa (Greek: Aγνή Mπάλτσα; also known as Agnes Baltsa; born 19 November 1944) is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano singer.
Baltsa was born in Lefkada. She began playing piano at the age of seven, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing. She graduated from the Greek National Conservatoire in 1965 and then travelled to Munich to continue studying on a Maria Callas scholarship.
Baltsa made her first appearance in an opera in 1968 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Frankfurt Opera, before going on to appear as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera in 1970. Under the guidance of Herbert von Karajan, she became a regular at the prestigious Salzburg Festival. She became Kammersängerin of the Vienna State Opera in 1980.
Her best-known performance is that of Carmen by Georges Bizet, which she has sung a number of times with noted tenors such as José Carreras, Neil Shicoff, and others. She has also sung works by Mozart (notably Così fan tutte), Rossini (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Semiramide, L'italiana in Algeri), Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana), Saint-Saëns (Samson et Dalila), Verdi (Aida, La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Don Carlos), Bellini (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Offenbach (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) and Donizetti (Il Campanello, Maria Stuarda).
She starred in the Austrian film Duett in 1992, playing an opera singer.
In 2017, she sang Klytemnestra in Richard Strauss's Elektra at the Greek National Opera's new premises at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

## Awards, Honors, and Memberships

* 1980: Kammersängerin (Austria)
* 1988: Honorary member (Vienna State Opera)
* 1993: Members (European Academy of Arts and Sciences)
* Prix du Prestige Lyrique
* Deutscher Schallplattenpreis
* Gold Medal of the City of Vienna
* Gold Medal of the City of Athens
* Wilhelm-Furtwängler Award

## Discography
### Operas

| Year of release | Album details | Contributing artists | Label |
| 1976 | Mozart: Ascanio in Alba | Lilian Sukis, Edith Mathis, Peter Schreier, Arleen Augér, Salzburger Kammerchor, Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg, Leopold Hager | DG |
| 1977 | Mozart: Mitridate | Arleen Augér, Ileana Cotrubaș, Edita Gruberová, Christine Weidinger, Werner Hollweg, David Kübler, Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg, Leopold Hager | DG |
| 1978 | Strauss: Salome | Hildegard Behrens, Karl-Walter Böhm, José van Dam, Wiesław Ochman, Heljä Angervo, Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan | EMI |
| 1979 | Verdi: Don Carlos | Nicolai Ghiaurov, José Carreras, Piero Cappuccilli, Ruggero Raimondi, José van Dam, Mirella Freni, Edita Gruberová, Barbara Hendricks, Chor der Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan | EMI |
| 1980 | Verdi: Aida | Mirella Freni, José Carreras, Piero Cappuccilli, Ruggero Raimondi, José van Dam, Katia Ricciarelli, Thomas Moser, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan | EMI |
| 1981 | Massenet: Thérèse | Francisco Araiza, George Fortune, Giancarlo Luccardi, Gino Sinimberghi, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Gerd Albrecht | Atlantis |
| 1981 | Ponchielli: La Gioconda | Montserrat Caballé, Alfreda Hodgson, Luciano Pavarotti, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Sherrill Milnes, London Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Bartoletti | Decca |
| 1982 | Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice | Margaret Marshall, Edita Gruberová, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti | EMI |
| 1982 | Donizetti: Il Campanello | Enzo Dara, Carlo Gaifa, Biancamaria Casoni, Angelo Romero, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Symphoniker, Gary Bertini | CBS |
| 1983 | Bizet: Carmen | José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, José van Dam, Chœurs de l'Opéra de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan | Deutsche Grammophon |
| 1983 | Verdi: Rigoletto | Thomas Allen, Luciana Serra, José Carreras, Evgeny Nesterenko, José van Dam, Coro del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan | Deutsche Grammophon |
| 1988 | Rossini: La Cenerentola | Francisco Araiza, Ruggero Raimondi, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner | Decca |