Her repertoire included roles of Butterfly in “Madame Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini, Elżbieta de Valois in “Don Carlos” by Giuseppe Verdi, mother of Joanna in “Diabły z Loudun” by Krzysztof Penderecki, Roxana in “Król Roger” by Karol Szymanowski, Małgorzata in “Faust” by Charles Gounod, Santuzza in “Rustic Chivalry” by Pietro Mascagni.
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From 1992 she was a soloist of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, where she sang the part of Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth” and Abigaille in “Nabuccu” by Verdi, Adalgiza in “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini, Zyglinda in “Valkyrie” by Richard Wagner and Piła in the opera “Ubu Rex “Penderecki. She also performed the title roles in Richard Strauss’s “Salome”, Puccini’s “Tosca”, Stanisław Moniuszko’s “Halka”, Umberto Giordano’s “Fedora”, and Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”.
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She also appeared in the productions of Mariusz Treliński – Giordano’s “Andrei Chenier”, “Onegin” and “The Lady of Spades” by Piotr Tchaikovsky, and in Verdi’s “Traviata”.
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As the Teatr Wielki recalled, “her Abigaille in Verdi’s ‘Nabuccu’ was hailed as the most interesting achievement of the 1987/1988 season. For her role as Carmen, the best female role in the 1991/92 season, she received the Golden Mask awarded by the theater reviewers from Łódź.”
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She has performed on the New York opera stages
In 1990, Cortes performed at the New York National Grand Opera in “Tosca”, conducted by Anton Coppola. She sang with Placido Doming a duet with “Carmen” by Bizet during the famous concert Heart for Hearts organized by prof. Zbigniew Religa in Zabrze in 1992. She performed in the repertoire of Marlena Dietrich in the author’s recital “Lili Marleen” with the pianist Mariusz Rutkowski.
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She collaborated with Krzysztof Penderecki, singing in his “Dies Irae”, “Polish Requiem”, “Te Deum” and “Diabły z Loudun”. She took part in the world premieres of Mikis Theodorakis’ operas “Elektra” in Luxembourg in 1995 and “Ivona, Princess of Burgundy” by Zygmunt Krauze in Paris in 2004.
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Cortes has won many prestigious awards, incl. Of the Silver Ring in the 1987/1988 season for Abigaille in “Nabucco” by Verdi and the Golden Mask for the role of Carmen (Teatr Wielki in Łódź). She received the award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage – the Medal of Merit for Culture Gloria Artis.
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photo-source">Main photo source: Marek Maliszewski/REPORTER/East News
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