Departures of note

Ileana Cotrubaș was a Romanian operatic soprano whose international career spanned the 1960s through the 1980s. Born in Galați into a musical family, she began singing in a children's radio choir and trained at the Școala Specială de Muzică in Bucharest before making her stage debut with the Bucharest Opera in 1964. She won first prizes at the 's-Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, which helped launch her across Europe's leading opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, and the Salzburg Festival.

Cotrubaș made her international breakthrough in 1975 when she stepped in for Mirella Freni at La Scala as Mimì in La bohème, arriving just minutes before curtain and earning critical acclaim. She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1977 and appeared there in televised performances of Rigoletto and La traviata, the latter becoming one of her signature roles. She also sang at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and was admired for her acting skill and her ability to sing opera in many languages.

Known for being demanding of directors and colleagues, she occasionally walked out of productions when she disagreed with staging. She retired from public singing in 1990 but continued teaching and coaching young singers. Cotrubaș died in Bucharest on 20 August 2026 at the age of 87.