Polish opera singer, coloratura soprano, actress and educator.
Ada Sari was born on June 29, 1886 in Wadowice as Jadwiga, the daughter of Edward Szayer, a lawyer, and Franciszka, née Chybińska. It was her mother who taught her to play the piano. At the age of three, she and her family moved to Stary Sącz, where her father began practicing law. Between 1920 and 1930, Edward Szayer held the office of mayor of Stary Sącz.
Ada studied at the Gymnasium in Cieszyn and then in Kraków, where she began singing lessons in 1903. She later attended Countess Pizzamano's Private Music School in Vienna. Her first public performance is considered to be a concert at Princess Lichtenstein's in 1906. From 1907-09 she trained her voice with Antonio Rupnick in Milan. In 1909 she made her debut on the stage of the Teatro Nazionale in Rome. She gave her first performance in Warszawa in 1914.
Ada Sari performed exclusively as a guest artist. The finest time in her career came during her years with the La Scala Theater in Milan, where she took part in the production of Mozart's opera 'The Magic Flute' in the role of the Queen of the Night, among others. Sari enjoyed a great deal of popularity among audiences and critics and she was dubbed "The Queen of Coloratura" and the 'New Patti' by the Italian press.
She sang in 11 languages, triumphing on the stages of Europe and the world. Her most successful roles included Rosina in Gioacchino Rossini's Barber of Seville, Gilda in Rigoletto and Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata.
She was partnered by such singers as Alessandro Bonci, Mattia Battistini, Beniamino Gigli, Titta Ruffo, Tito Schipa, Riccardo Stracciari, Fyodor Shalapin, Adam Didur, Stanislav Gruszczynski.
After the war, she realized herself primarily as a pedagogue, teaching, among other things, singing classes at the State Higher School of Music in Kraków and Warszawa, as an associate professor. She died July 12, 1968 in a sanatorium in Ciechocinek after suffering a heart attack. She was buried in the Alley of the Distinguished at Powązki Cemetery in Warszawa.
In Wadowice, her hometown, one of the streets was named after her. An International Festival and Competition of Vocal Art named after her is held in Nowy Sącz for young performers.