Olgina Olga, actually Olgina Józefowicz, 1o voto Maywalt, 2o voto Mackiewicz, pseudonym Irena Larar, *24 June 1904 Jarosław (on the Wołga River), †30 I 1979 Łódź, Polish singer (soprano) and teacher. In 1920, she graduated from the Petrograd Conservatory (piano class); she learned singing from her mother, Olga Józefowiczowa (pseudonym Olghina), a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater. In 1922, she made her debut as Violetta in La traviata by G. Verdi in Vilnius, where until 1924, she sang the parts of Margarita (Faust by Ch. Gounod), Rosina (The Barber of Seville by G. Rossini), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera by G. Verdi) and Olympia (The Tales of Hoffmann by J. Offenbach). In 1925–26, she performed in Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana, then she was a soloist at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw (1926–33) and Poznań (1933–35). She achieved success, especially as the title character Lakmé in the opera by L. Delibes, Fiordiligi and Elvira (Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni by Mozart), Norina (Don Pasquale by G. Donizetti) and Gilda (Rigoletto by G. Verdi). She appeared as a guest on opera stages in Lviv (1929, 1932), Katowice (1930–31) and Kraków (1931). She gave recitals in Poland and abroad, including in Vienna (1927), London and Glasgow (1928–29). After her performance in Krakow, Z. Jachimecki wrote that it was “a sensational display of coloratura technique, musicality and a beautiful voice” (“Muzyka” 1927 No. 3). From 1940, Olgina conducted teaching activities at the conservatory in Vilnius (1940–42, 1944–45), the People’s Institute of Music (1945–47) and at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź (1947–77), where in 1959–73, she was the dean of the Vocal Department, as well as at the PWSM in Warsaw. Her students included T. Wojtaszek-Kubiak and T. Żylis-Gara.
