Trivia

She made her operatic debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Dorabella in Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte." She subsequently had great success as Cherubino in a Glyndebourne opera house performance of Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro".

Mezzo-soprano known for her performances of Mozart and Rossini. Her repertoire included Catalan folk songs as well as song cycles by Schubert, Schumann, and Mahler.

As a child she wanted to become a nun, and she entered the Madrid Conservatory to study piano and organ for her religious vocation. One of her teachers noticed her singing talent, which earned her first place in a contest sponsored by the conservatory.

In 1967, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut, again as Cherubino, directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff in his house debut, and conducted by Joseph Rosenstock, alongside Cesare Siepi as Figaro, Mirella Freni as Susanna, Tom Krause and Pilar Lorengar as the Almaviva couple.

In 1992, Berganza participated in the opening ceremonies of Expo '92 in Seville and the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

She made her La Scala debut in 1957.

In 1994, she became the first woman elected to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

Berganza appeared at the 1977 Edinburgh Festival as Bizet's Carmen, conducted by Abbado, regarded as one of her greatest successes on stage, and repeated the role at the Paris Opera.

Berganza was a leading singer for a renaissance of Rossini's operas, returning the roles to the original lower register according to critical editions by Alberto Zedda, promoted by conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Charles Mackerras.

She participated in the concert for the opening of the Opéra Bastille in Paris on 13 July 1989.

She last taught singing at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, continued to perform music of Spanish composers, and gave master classes all over the world. Her students have included María Bayo, Jorge Chaminé and Alicia Nafé.

For the opening of the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid, she performed in De Falla's Atlántida alongside Montserrat Caballé and Vicente.

Berganza's stage career ended in 2008.

Berganza received a Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts from the Kingdom of Spain on 26 February 1982.

In 1959, Berganza made her first appearance at the Royal Opera House as Cherubino, and the following year performed there as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, which became one of her signature roles. She repeated it at the Opernhaus Zürich, where she returned in 1979 as Charlotte in Massenet's Werther.

She received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 International Opera Awards.

She shared the 1991 Prince of Asturias Award for arts and letters with six other Spanish singers.

In 1996, she was awarded the Premio Nacional de Música.

She was awarded the Dame Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise from the Kingdom of Spain on 3 May 2013.

She appeared in the U.S. first in 1958, at the Dallas Opera as Isabella in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri and then as Neri in Cherubini's Médée alongside Maria Callas in the title role.