LISTENING TO TCHAIKOVSKY: Béla Hartmann uses his knowledge of Eastern Europe to argue against the banning of all Russian culture following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
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Mexican mezzo-soprano Oralia Domínguez was born at San Luis Potosí on 25 October 1925 and studied at the National Conservatory of Music where composer Carlos Chavez helped create a career for her.
Her professional debut was in 1950 at Mexico City Opera, and in 1951 she sang Amneris in Aida alongside Maria Callas, Mario del Monaco and Giuseppe Taddei at Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes.
By 1953, she had appeared at London's Wigmore Hall, La Scala Milan and at the Lucerne Festival, and the following year she was performing all over Europe. In 1955 she first appeared at Covent Garden, taking a role in the first performance of Tippett's Midsummer Marriage.
She died in Milan on 25 November 2013, aged eighty-eight, leaving many recordings, including Erda in Wagner's Ring with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic.