Marina Zirdzina's portrait photo by Leonīds Merkmanis

"The journey of the Riga Operetta Theatre would not have had the colour and brightness of talent without the personality of Marina Zirdziņa (27.06.1912 - 08.11.1990), without her working temperament, without her amazing endurance." This quote by musicologist and musical theatre critic Vija Briede begins the richly illustrated book Marina Zirdziņa by theatre critic Gundega Saulīte, published in 2012 by Vesta-LK, which describes the artist's path to the stage, including such important landmarks as winning a beauty contest in 1931, her first appearance on the stage, and her first success as a performer.
Twenty-five years at the Musical Comedy Theatre, diverse roles and a responsible attitude to work... Marina Zirdziņa's biography is rich in bright and creative pages. By highlighting the peaks of Latvian cultural history - in the field of operetta, Marina Zirdziņa is undoubtedly the greatest - and by promoting the high-quality, contemporary development of the genre, the competition will honour the brilliant personality of the operetta diva and bring to life the qualities that characterised the outstanding artist.
"Her roles were characterised by an intelligence that was both musical and artistic, and an ability to transform into new roles, expressing a wide range of experiences of the female soul, which was always precisely subject to the laws of a seemingly light genre," is how Vija Briede describes Marina Zirdziņa.

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SHORT BIOGRAPHY
The outstanding Latvian performing artist Marina Zirdziņa (born Marianna Rasnača) was born on 27 June 1912 in Riga into a Polish family. Her mother was Tekla (born Kņazeviča), her father was Stanisław Rasnačs, and she had an older sister Hedwiga. At home, the family speaks Polish, sings a lot, also triple-voice. Marina learned Latvian and Russian easily, which later came in handy when she worked as a soloist in both Latvian and Russian troupes of Musical Comedy Theatre and later Operetta Theatre. Marina has been doing artistic gymnastics since childhood and is a good swimmer and figure skater. As her mother was raising her two daughters alone, Marina started working early - first in a perfume shop, and later in a knitwear factory Zvaigzne.
 
In 1931, at the age of 19, Marina wins the title of the most beautiful woman in Riga, winning a competition and receiving a gold watch as a prize. Later, Marina takes part in a beauty contest for Latvian working girls, where she also wins first prize and the title Miss Working Maiden.
 
In 1936 Marina started singing in Theodor Reiter's choir, and music became an important part of her life. While singing in this famous and highly professional choir as soloist, Marina Zirdziņa attended singing lessons with the opera singer Herta Luce, who recognised her pupil as very gifted and introduced her to the basics of vocal technique, teaching her how to manage the vocal material.
 
Marina has been married for a short time to Arturs Riekstiņš. During the German occupation, Marina becomes involved in the Volkstheater, where she meets the young actor Vsevolods Zirdziņš and soon becomes Marina Zirdziņa. For more than 25 years, she was known by this name not only to Latvian audiences, but also to operetta lovers in many cities of the Soviet Union. In 1943, his son Vitaly is born. He trained as an orthopaedic traumatologist, became a faculty member - dean, associate professor at the Latvian Institute of Medicine and later at Riga Stradins University.
 
After the war, the Musical Comedy Theatre was founded in Riga, where both Marina and Vsevolods Zirdziņš were hired as soloists. There is work, there is success, but Marina Zirdziņa always emphasises that it was in the Reiter Choir that she gained the most preparatory stage training. After the passing of Theodors Reiters, Marina Zirdziņa, now a Meritorious Performing Artist (in the Soviet Union, when the Iron Curtain excluded international career opportunities, this was the highest award given to outstanding artists of the Latvian SSR), admits that performing with the choir he directed was one of the most significant events in her professional development as a singer.   At that time, she could be called the prima donna of the Operetta Theatre - she sang the leading roles in almost all operettas, and she had the poise and aristocracy of a true lady. Rosmarie and Wanda in Friml and Stothart's Rosmarie, Sylva in Kálmán's Queen of the Chardash, Rosalinde in Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Ninon in Kálmán's Die Fledermaus, Hannah in Lehár's The Merry Widow, Clivia in Dostal's Clivia, Miss Higgins in Low's My Fair Lady, some character roles in operettas by Latvian composers - Kirst in Arvīds Žilinskis' The Amber Coast Boys, Mrs Baumanis in Gunārs Ordelovskis' The Swimming Susanna. The last role of Marina Zirdziņa was Dolly in Herman's operetta Hallo, Dollij! in 1969. At the beginning of the 1970s, the singer, in perfect form and at the height of her fame, left the stage, but continued to give concerts as she had done throughout her life on the stages of many, many Concert Halls in her homeland. 
 
Relatives say that Marina was a real family person, a wonderful hostess, an always interesting interlocutor and a dear grandmother to her grandchildren. Joy of life, sense of humour, love for her family, clear understanding of friendship, very conscientious attitude to work, open intolerance of lies and double-dealing, faith in the freedom of Latvia - this is how Vitālijs describes his mother.

Marina Zirdziņa, 1931

As Princess Laia in the operetta "Hawaiian Flower"

Excited about Hanna Glawari? ("The Merry Widow")

Rosalinde in "The Bat" was Marina Zirdziņa's role of a lifetime