Milagros Poblador

I was born in Madrid and my family is from Castilla La Mancha. My passion for singing emerged in me from an early age. When I was 5 and 6 years old I was already singing for my family and friends and felt no embarrassment. Though obviously I had no idea that I wanted to be a singer, and even less of opera!! When I was nine I began to study in the Conservatorio Superior de Música of Madrid, but without the goal of dedicating myself professionally. In fact, I studied Pharmacy and, though I received the title of Voice Teacher with honours, I ended up working for more than a year in a chemist, selling aspirin and blending lotions. It was only when I lost my pharmacy job that I met the soprano Ana Fernaud in a course at the Conservatory, and she persuaded me to give my voice an opportunity and leave the pharmacy for later. A little later I won a spot in the chorus of the Teatro La Zarzuela, and all of a sudden I was earning my living as a professional singer. In this theater, with the director Emilio Sagi, I sang my first roles as a soloist: Marina (94) and soon after I debuted “die Königin der Nacht” (Die Zauberflöte - Mallorca 96), my great battle horse, a role I have presented all over Central Europe and with which I have already completed my hundredth performance, “Blonde” (Die Entführung aus dem Serail - Peralada 97), “Nannetta” (Falstaff - Oviedo 97), “Oscar” (Un ballo in maschera - Mallorca 97)... I fondly remember the good advice given to me by Alfredo Kraus during the course at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia. Like every beginning singer, I participated in many singing competitions and was awarded several good prizes among which I will point out the "Prize for best Light Soprano" and the "4th and 5th Level Liceu Prize" in the Francisco Viñas Competition, the "First Prize" in the Francisco Alonso Competition and, most especially, the "First Prize" in Eugenio Marco's Competition of Sabadell (1994), because it was here that I met my teacher, the tenor Francisco Lázaro --who was one of the jurors-- and it was this event which marked a 'before' and an 'after' in my artistic career. Francisco Lázaro is not only my voice teacher, he is also my Mentor, who has advised me and continues guiding me in my projects, and who urged me that leaving Spain was the only way to seriously advance my career and become what I am now. This is how I began with the Landestheater in Linz (Austria 98/99) and from there my career was suddenly launched... Stadttheater St. Gallen, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, Semperoper Dresden, La Maestranza of Sevilla, Palacio Euskalduna de Bilbao, Teatro Real of Madrid... and, of course, my beloved Gran Teatre del Liceu with which I have been collaborating since 1997. I have sung, among others, some of the most beautiful operas and zarzuelas ever written for Coloratura Soprano: Lucia di Lammermoor, La Sonnambula, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Bohème (“Musetta”), The Rake's Progress, Les contes d'Hoffmann (“Olympia”), Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’amore, Doña Francisquita, L’enfant et les sortilèges (“Rosignol and le Feu”) and Ariadne auf Naxos (“Zerbinetta”), alternating with the great Edita Gruberova..., under such prestigious conductors like: L. Hager, G. Carella, F. Haider, Josep Pons, Rozdestvensky, R. Norrington, R. Weikert, A. Guadagno, S. Ozawa and such directors as: Lindsay Kemp, M.A.Marelli, J.Font, P. Busse ... I have been closely linked to the Wiener Staatsoper since the 99/00 season, when I debuted in the role of “die Königin der Nacht” and where I have sung, among other roles: “Blonde”, “die Seele” (Die Jakobsleiter of A. Schönberg), “Amina” (La Sonnambula), “Musetta”, “Elvira” (L'italiana in Algeri), “Oscar”, “Olympia” and “die kleine Frau” (Der Riese vom Steinfeld of F. Cerha). I have commitments with this theater until 2006. For more detailed and updated information, I recommend that you enter the link for "Next Performances". Fondly,