Opera In 1968, Gruberová made her operatic debut at the
National Theatre in
Bratislava as Rosina in Rossini's
Il barbiere di Siviglia. Among her roles was
Eliza Doolittle in Loewe's musical
My Fair Lady. Since
communist Czechoslovakia was going through
normalisation, during which the borders to non-communist countries were closed, Medvecká surreptitiously arranged for an audition for Gruberová at the
Vienna State Opera in the summer of 1969. She was immediately engaged, and made her breakthrough the following year when she appeared as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte. She became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1972, where she was only given secondary and supporting roles in her early years. She was invited to perform at many of the most important opera houses in the world, especially in
coloratura roles. She became an Austrian citizen in 1974. In Vienna, she studied with Ruthilde Boesch, whom she described as a wonderful, tough, diligent teacher, the demanding role of Zerbinetta in
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. again as the Queen of the Night, conducted by
James Conlon. She appeared as Zerbinetta in a live broadcast conducted by
James Levine in 1979. Robert Jacobson of
Opera News, in his review noted: {{quote|New, and a brilliant addition to the ensemble, was Edita Gruberova as Zerbinetta, The Slovak soprano is everything one could hope for in this soaring, most demanding role, for she acts enchantingly, sings with great skill and musicality and possesses a voice that not only sails easily to the top, but is filled out with sweetness and quality; she had a triumph, predictably, not only in her big aria, but in the touching duet with the Composer in the prologue as well.}} In 1977, she first appeared at the
Salzburg Festival, as Thibault in Verdi's
Don Carlo, conducted by
Herbert von Karajan. In opera films, she performed as Gilda in Ponnelle's
1982 film adaptation of
Rigoletto, alongside
Ingvar Wixell in the title role and
Luciano Pavarotti as the Duke, and in his 1988 film adaptation of Mozart's
Così fan tutte, alongside
Delores Ziegler and
Ferruccio Furlanetto. Gruberová made her
Royal Opera House debut as Giulietta in Bellini's
I Capuleti e i Montecchi in 1984. Other important roles include the title roles of Verdi's
La traviata, Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor, and Massenet's
Manon. She performed as Konstanze in Mozart's
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Oscar in Verdi's
Un ballo in maschera. Later that year, after Pereira's departure, she performed with the company again, in a revival of
Roberto Devereux. Gruberová appeared as Donna Anna in Mozart's
Don Giovanni at
La Scala in Milan in 1987 and as
Elisabetta in Donizetti's
Roberto Devereux in Vienna in 1990. The latter became one of her signature roles; in a new production in Munich directed by
Christof Loy, she made peace with
Regietheater in a dramatic portrayal of the Queen, without losing her distinctive coloratura. She always performed coloratura ornamentation with dramatic expressiveness, with humour as Zerbinetta, and in rapture with a high
trill as the dying Antonia in
Offenbach's ''
Les contes d'Hoffmann. Her last performance was in Gersthofen on 20 December 2019. Her two planned farewell performances in November 2020, in a semi-staged Roberto Devereux'' at the
National Theatre Košice, were cancelled due to the pandemic.
Lied Gruberová was introduced to
Lieder repertoire by , a professor at the
Vienna Music Academy, and repetiteur at the Vienna State Opera. They often performed together, until
Erik Werba became her
Lied partner with whom she performed songs by
Franz Schubert,
Gustav Mahler and Strauss.
Recognition Gruberová was an Austrian and Bavarian
Kammersängerin, and an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera from 1988. Kesting recognized Gruberová as the last
prima donna assoluta. == Personal life ==