“Go while the going is good.  Knowing when to leave may be the smartest thing anyone can learn,” sings Fran in Promises, Promises, the 1968 Hal David/Burt Bacharach musical which apparently Edita Gruberová has never seen.  

Three weeks ago, the Slovakian Songbird stepped onto the stage of Wiener Staatsoper 45 years to the day she first appeared with the company as the Queen of the Night.  For more than two hours, she performed some of her greatest hits to myriad screaming fans, clinging to roles retained in her repertoire for more than 35 years as she approaches her 69th birthday.  While some may find the idea of a sexagenarian Zerbinetta perverse, others continue to wilt with adulation at the mere appearance of her name on a cast list.  Like the diva herself, it seems they have no intention of leaving.

Edita Gruberová: 45 Years at Wiener Staatsoper
Marco Armiliato, conductor
07 February 2015

Gaetano Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Coro “D’immenso giubilo”
Gran scena con coro (Raimondo)
Scena ed aria (Lucia)

Lucia – Edita Gruberová
Enrico – Marco Caria
Raimondo – Dan Paul Dumitrescu

Vincenco Bellini: I puritani
Introduzione
Scena ed aria (Elvira)

Elvira – Edita Gruberová
Riccardo – Marco Caria
Sir Giorgio – Dan Paul Dumitrescu

Gaetano Donizetti: Anna Bolena
Sinfonia
Ultima scena

Anna – Edita Gruberová
Percy – José Bros
Smeton – Margarita Gritskova
Sir Hervey – Carlos Osuna
Rochefort – Dan Paul Dumitrescu

Gaetano Donizetti: Roberto Devereux
Atto secondo: Introduzione
Scena ed aria finale (Elisabetta)

Elisabetta – Edita Gruberová
Sara – Monika Bohinec
Nottingham – Paolo Rumetz
Lord Cecil – Carlos Osuna

Edita Gruberová – Speech (in German) and ovation