caption death_date years_active birth_place name background birth_date instrument genre image article_title birth_name occupation
resnik in 1968 08 august 2013 1942 -- 1991 bronx , new york , usa regina resnik solo_singer 30 august 1922 vocals opera regina resnik 1968.jpg regina resnik
 regina resnick singer
regina resnik

regina resnik -lrb- august 30 , 1922 -- august 8 , 2013 -rrb- was an american opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades .
she began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and fruitful relationship with the metropolitan opera that spanned from 1944-1983 .
under the advice of conductor clemens krauss , she began retraining her voice in the mezzo-soprano repertoire in 1953 and by 1956 had completely removed soprano literature from her performance repertoire .
while the met was resnik 's artistic home , she worked regularly as a guest artist with other major american opera companies and with the top european opera houses , including la scala , the paris opera , the royal opera , london , the san francisco opera , and the vienna state opera .
after the mid 1980s her performance career transitioned away from opera towards musical theater .
in addition to performing , resnik worked as a stage director at several european opera houses during the 1970s and 1980s ; usually in collaboration with her husband , scenic and costume designer arbit blatas .
she was also highly active as a voice teacher , teaching on the voice faculties of several music conservatories , including the juilliard school .
