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Sylvia Sass was born in Budapest in 1951 and studied at the Hungarian Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. After her debut at the Budapest State Opera in 1971, she won several major competitions in the early 1970’s, notably the First Prize in the 1972 Kodály Competition in Budapest, the Grand Prix in the 1973 Sofia International Opera Competition for her Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, as well as the Special Prize for the Best Song Interpretation. She won the Second Prize at the 1974 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow where no First Prize has been awarded.
As a member of the Budapest State Opera from 1972 to 1979, she performed leading roles in the operas Otello, Don Giovanni, La Bohème, Le nozze di Figaro, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Tosca, Il Trovatore, I Lombardi, La Traviata, and Norma.
From 1975, Sylvia Sass performed in most of the world’s major opera houses, including: the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (I Lombardi, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, Don Carlo, and Norma); La Scala (Manon Lescaut, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica); the Metropolitan Opera (Tosca); and Opéra Garnier de Paris (Roméo et Juliette). She performed as well in the Vienna State Opera (La Bohème, Tosca); the Hamburg State Opera (Cosi fan tutte, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Don Carlo); the Bavarian State Opera of Munich (La Traviata), and the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow (La Traviata).
She has performed solo recitals at renowned concert halls including Carnegie Hall, New York and the Royal Festival Hall, London and has recorded solo albums of operatic arias, and song recitals of Bartók, Liszt (Decca), Wagner, and Richard Strauss (Hungaroton). By singing their leading roles, she has participated in the recording of complete operas for Hungaroton (Cherubini’s Medea, Verdi’s Ernani, I Lombardi, Attila, Macbeth, Respighi’s Belfagor, Erkel’s László Hunyadi), for Decca (Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Mozart’s Don Giovanni), and for Philips (Verdi’s Stiffelio).
A DVD of her masterful 1981 performance of Bartók’s Bluebeard's Castle under the baton of Sir Georg Solti is available (Unitel Classica), as is her la Scala performance of Puccini’s Il Trittico, under the baton of Gianadrea Gavazzeni (NVC Arts).
Sylvia Sass was awarded the Honoured Artist of Hungary in 1977 and the Hungarian Cross of the Order of Merit in 2007.
After a twenty-four year career on the opera stage, she now performs frequently in concerts and recitals, while giving Master Classes throughout the world.
