Background
Watanabe, Yoko was born on July 12, 1953 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. Daughter of Kan and Isako (Mõroka) Watanabe.
渡辺 葉子
Watanabe, Yoko was born on July 12, 1953 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. Daughter of Kan and Isako (Mõroka) Watanabe.
Diploma in voice, Ghe-i-Dai State University, Tokyo, 1976; diploma in voice, Teatro Alla Scala School, Milan, Italy, 1979.
Watanabe died after a long battle with cancer in her Milan home at the age of 51. Yoko graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1976 then she left for Italy to study opera. She spent two years at an institute tied to La Scala, Milan's opera house.
In 1978, the 25-year-old Ms. Watanabe made her debut in Europe, then mostly performed in Italy. She returned to Japan in 1985 for her much-celebrated first performance at home with the Fujiwara Opera troupe, as Butterfly in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly." It was to be her signature role.
Married Renato Grimaldi, November 22, 1980.