Maria Winetzkaja ^People

Her father was a cantor in a synagogue in Chisināu. Winetzkaja was a leading mezzo-soprano with the Boston National Grand Opera Company in 1917 and 1918, and toured Central and South America with the Bracale Opera Company from 1919 to 1921. She performed in many cities in the United States throughout her career, as a member of several opera companies, including the Puccini Opera Company of Philadelphia and the New York Grand Opera and Cosmopolitan Opera companies in New York. Winetzkaja also gave recitals at Town Hall, Aeolian Hall, and Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as in other major American cities. She never sang at the Metropolitan Opera, the pinnacle of success for American singers: the reason, she said, was that she refused to sleep with one of the Met's directors.She had a very rich, beautiful mezzo-soprano voice, and was an excellent musi-cian. A spontaneous singer, she rarely marked her scores. During the 1920s, a reviewer wrote that her voice, which ranges from big chest tones almost masculine in timbre to quite high tones, which have a clear silvery ring, is much like her person. It shows the same richness and powerful magnetism (Dorothy J. Teall, Musical America). The Musical Leader reported, Mme. Winetzkajas dramatic quality served her as well in recital as it did in the impersonation of a role. She showed extraordinary musicianship and versatility in English, French, Italian and Russian songs.