Renata Babak, 69; Bolshoi Opera Star Defected to U.S.

Renata Babak, 69, a mezzo-soprano who defected to the United States from the Bolshoi Opera in 1973, died of pancreatic cancer Dec. 31 at her home in Silver Spring, Md.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, she studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in what was then Leningrad and was soloist at the Leningrad Opera. She was an international star with 10 years of experience at the Bolshoi when she defected while the opera company was playing at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

Her U.S. debut at Carnegie Hall in 1975 earned enthusiastic reviews. She joined the faculty of the Washington Conservatory of Music in Washington, D.C., where she gave recitals and sang roles that critics generally conceded didn’t take full advantage of her vocal range.

She became a U.S. citizen in 1993 and taught Russian for 10 years, until 2001, through an Agriculture Department program.

Her last opera performance was in 1997 in Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” with Opera Camerata of Washington, D.C. She continued to sing recitals until last year.