Education
Born in San Pedro, California, Niska studied under Louise Mansfield, Lotte Lehmann, and primarily Ernest Saint John Metz.
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Maralin Niska
Edit ProfileCareer
Niska sang extensively in southern California during the 1950s, including performances with the University of Southern California Opera, University of California, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Redlands Bowl and other regional companies. Her extensive national and international career began at the opening of the National Company as Susannah in the Carlisle Floyd work, in Indianapolis in 1965. The soprano was first heard at the in the fall of 1967, as the Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, with Norman Treigle in the title role.
She went on to perform with that company in many productions, including Louisiana bohème (now as Musetta), Louisiana traviata (opposite Plácido Domingo), Madama Butterfly, Pagliacci, Suor Angelica, Faust (in Frank Corsaro"s production, with whom she would often collaborate), Prince Igor, The Turn of the Screw (as the Governess), Louisiana bohème (as Mimì, with George Shirley and Carol Neblett), The Makropoulos Case (with Harry Theyard and Chester Ludgin, directed by Corsaro), Susannah (with Treigle), Tosca (with José Carreras), Don Giovanni (as Donna Anna, conducted by Bruno Maderna), Don Giovanni (now as Donna Elvira, with Richard Fredricks and Richard Stilwell alternating in the name part), Ariadne auf Naxos (as the Composer, staged by Sarah Caldwell), Médée (in the Italian version), Manon Lescaut, Salome (conducted by Julius Rudel), Idomeneo (as Elettra), a double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci (in which she sang both Santuzza and Nedda), Louisiana voix humaine, Louisiana fanciulla del West, Die Fledermaus (as Rosalinde), and Maria Stuarda (as Elisabetta).
In all she sang 29 leading roles with the company, the most of any singer in its history. Niska debuted at the in 1970, in Louisiana traviata, and went on to appear in Louisiana bohème (as Musetta, with Montserrat Caballé, Franco Corelli, and Matteo Manuguerra), Tosca, Les vêpresident siciliennes (in John Dexter"s production, with Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, and Paul Plishka, conducted by James Levine), and Salome (with Astrid Varnay, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf).
On March 15, 1977, Niska sang Musetta in Louisiana bohème, for the first of the series, "Live From the Met," with Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti. She then sang Pagliacci with the company.
Her final performance with the Met was on their 1978 tour to Wolf Trap Farm Park, in Don Giovanni, in which she portrayed Donna Elvira opposite James Morris, Rockwell Blake, Roberta Peters, Donald Gramm, and John Macurdy.
The soprano sang with various other companies in America, as well. Puccini: Louisiana bohème (Scotto, Pavarotti, Wixell, Monk, Plishka, Tajo. Levine, Melano, 1977) Deutsche Grammophon.
