Eva Likova
Encyclopedia
Eva Likova was an American opera
tic soprano
of Czech descent. She was notably one of the major sopranos at the New York City Opera
during the company's early years. She also made guest appearances with a number of opera house
s in North America and Europe, enjoying a particularly fruitful partnership with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
. After retiring from the opera stage in 1966, she embarked on a second career as a voice teacher.
, Likova studied to be a ballerina
before studying singing at the Prague Conservatory
with Nektar de Flondor. She made her professional opera debut in 1943 as Mařenka in Bedřich Smetana
's The Bartered Bride
at the Brno National Theatre
where she was committed for two years. From 1945 through 1947 she worked as a principal artist at the Prague National Theatre
. She also made a handful of appearances in European films and worked as a dramatic actress and ballet dancer during the early 1940s.
In 1947 Likova immigrated to the United States where she remained for the rest of her life. She first performed in the USA as a concert singer, making her American debut on February 6, 1947 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
under conductor Karl Krueger. In 1949 made her American opera debut as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi
's La traviata
at the New York City Opera
(NYCO). She remained committed to the NYCO up through 1957, portraying such roles as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Don Giovanni
, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto
, Liù in Giacomo Puccini
's Turandot
, Marguerite in Charles Gounod
's Faust
(opposite Norman Treigle
), Micaela in Georges Bizet
's Carmen
, Musetta in Puccini's La bohème
, Nedda in Ruggero Leoncavallo
's Pagliacci
, Olympia in Jacques Offenbach
's The Tales of Hoffmann and the title role in Jules Massenet
’s Manon
. She returned to the NYCO as a guest artist a number of times up through 1965, with her last performance with the company being Giorgetta in Puccini's Il tabarro
.
Likova was active as a guest artist with opera companies throughout the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1953 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
as Violetta to the Alfredo of Walter Fredericks and Germont of Cesare Bardelli under conductor Giuseppe Bamboschek
. She later appeared with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
as Nedda (1956), Gilda (1957), Adina in Gaetano Donizetti
's L'elisir d'amore
(1958), Lisette in Puccini's La rondine
(1960), Marienka (1960), Musetta (1964), Micaëla (1964), and Nedda (1966). In 1954 she appeared as Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss
's Ariadne auf naxos
at the Central City Opera
. In 1955 she sang Arsena in Johann Strauss II
's The Gypsy Baron
at the Lewisohn Stadium
under conductor Julius Rudel
and portrayed Euridice in Christoph Willibald Gluck
's Orfeo ed Euridice
at the Newport Music Festival
with Martha Lipton
as Orfeo. In 1956 she sang Dircé in the American Opera Society
's production of Luigi Cherubini
's Médée
at Carnegie Hall
with Eileen Farrell
in the title role and Arnold Gamson
conducting.
In 1961 Likova sang Violetta at the Opera Company of Boston
with John Alexander
as Alfredo and Igor Gorin
as Germont under the baton of Sarah Caldwell
. That same year she portrayed Liù to Lucille Udovick's Turandot at the San Francisco Opera
. She also gave performances at the Pittsburgh Opera
and New Orleans Opera
among others. She was also active as a conert singer, appearing with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic
and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
. On the international stage she appeared at the Canadian Opera Company
, the Great Theatre, Warsaw, the Liceu
, the Palacio de Bellas Artes
, the Vienna State Opera
, the Opéra National de Paris, and with a number of opera houses in Germany and Italy. She was also highly active in filming operatic productions for television in the early 1950s with both NBC and CBC.
After the end of the 1965-1966 season, Likova retired from performing. She joined the faculty of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
, where she taught singing until her retirement in 1983. She later taught privately in both New York City and Philadelphia until returning to Michigan where she lived in Southfield
until her death of complications of Alzheimer's disease
at the age of 84.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
of Czech descent. She was notably one of the major sopranos at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
during the company's early years. She also made guest appearances with a number of opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s in North America and Europe, enjoying a particularly fruitful partnership with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
. After retiring from the opera stage in 1966, she embarked on a second career as a voice teacher.
Biography
Born Eva Prchliková in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Likova studied to be a ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
before studying singing at the Prague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...
with Nektar de Flondor. She made her professional opera debut in 1943 as Mařenka in Bedřich Smetana
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
's The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
at the Brno National Theatre
National Theatre (Brno)
The National Theatre in Brno is the major theatre house in Brno. It was established in 1884 by model of the National Theatre in Prague.Nowadays it consists of three stages:...
where she was committed for two years. From 1945 through 1947 she worked as a principal artist at the Prague National Theatre
National Theatre (Prague)
The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...
. She also made a handful of appearances in European films and worked as a dramatic actress and ballet dancer during the early 1940s.
In 1947 Likova immigrated to the United States where she remained for the rest of her life. She first performed in the USA as a concert singer, making her American debut on February 6, 1947 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
under conductor Karl Krueger. In 1949 made her American opera debut as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
(NYCO). She remained committed to the NYCO up through 1957, portraying such roles as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
, Liù in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
, Marguerite in Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
(opposite Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror....
), Micaela in Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Musetta in Puccini's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Nedda in Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
's Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, Olympia in Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's The Tales of Hoffmann and the title role in Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
’s Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
. She returned to the NYCO as a guest artist a number of times up through 1965, with her last performance with the company being Giorgetta in Puccini's Il tabarro
Il tabarro
Il tabarro is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on Didier Gold's play La houppelande. It is the first of the trio of operas known as Il trittico...
.
Likova was active as a guest artist with opera companies throughout the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1953 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1950 and 1955. Fausta Cleva served as the company's first General Director and conductor...
as Violetta to the Alfredo of Walter Fredericks and Germont of Cesare Bardelli under conductor Giuseppe Bamboschek
Giuseppe Bamboschek
Giuseppe Maria Bamboschek was an Italian-American opera conductor, pianist, organist, music director and film director. During his expansive career, Bamboschek conducted performances including famed singers Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Giovanni Martinelli, Giuseppe De Luca, and many more...
. She later appeared with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
as Nedda (1956), Gilda (1957), Adina in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
(1958), Lisette in Puccini's La rondine
La rondine
La rondine is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
(1960), Marienka (1960), Musetta (1964), Micaëla (1964), and Nedda (1966). In 1954 she appeared as Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Ariadne auf naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
at the Central City Opera
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...
. In 1955 she sang Arsena in Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
's The Gypsy Baron
The Gypsy Baron
The Gypsy Baron is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its libretto was by the author Ignaz Schnitzer and in turn was based on Sáffi by Mór Jókai. During the composer's lifetime, the operetta enjoyed great success, second...
at the Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York. It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973.-History:...
under conductor Julius Rudel
Julius Rudel
Julius Rudel is an American opera and orchestra conductor who emigrated to the United States from Austria at the age of 17 and studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He then forged a 35-year career with the New York City Opera, from 1944 to 1979, and was the Music...
and portrayed Euridice in Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
at the Newport Music Festival
Newport Music Festival
Newport Music Festival is a classical music festival that takes place in Newport, Rhode Island.It was founded in 1969 as a summer season of the Metropolitan Opera. The outdoor venue was not conducive to classical music performance, and instead the grand rooms of the stately Newport mansions were...
with Martha Lipton
Martha Lipton
Martha Lipton was an American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Biography:Lipton was born in New York City. She won a scholarship to the Juilliard School and made her debut as Pauline in Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades for the New Opera Company in Manhattan in 1941...
as Orfeo. In 1956 she sang Dircé in the American Opera Society
American Opera Society
The American Opera Society was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas between 1951 and 1970...
's production of Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
's Médée
Médée (Cherubini)
Médée is a French language opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini.The libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann was based on Euripides' tragedy of Medea and Pierre Corneille's play Médée....
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
with Eileen Farrell
Eileen Farrell
Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60 year long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances...
in the title role and Arnold Gamson
Arnold Gamson
Arnold U. Gamson is an American conductor who is particularly known for his work within the field of opera. He notably co-founded and served as the Music Director and principal conductor of the American Opera Society from 1950-1960...
conducting.
In 1961 Likova sang Violetta at the Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
with John Alexander
John Alexander (tenor)
John Alexander was an American operatic tenor who had a substantial career during the 1950s through the 1980s. He had a long standing relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing with that company every year between 1961 and 1987 for a total of 379 performances...
as Alfredo and Igor Gorin
Igor Gorin
Igor Gorin was an Austrian baritone and music teacher.-Early life:Gorin was born Ignatz Greenberg on October 26, 1904, in the small village of Grodek in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Sholom Greenberg, was a rabbi and a Talmudist who taught religion in Grodek and in the neighboring...
as Germont under the baton of Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell was a notable American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director of opera.- Life :Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was a child prodigy and gave public performances on the violin by the time she was ten years old...
. That same year she portrayed Liù to Lucille Udovick's Turandot at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
. She also gave performances at the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...
and New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
among others. She was also active as a conert singer, appearing with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
. On the international stage she appeared at the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
, the Great Theatre, Warsaw, the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
, the Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico...
, the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
, the Opéra National de Paris, and with a number of opera houses in Germany and Italy. She was also highly active in filming operatic productions for television in the early 1950s with both NBC and CBC.
After the end of the 1965-1966 season, Likova retired from performing. She joined the faculty of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance is an undergraduate and graduate institution for the performing arts in the United States. It is part of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The School of Music, Theatre & Dance was founded in 1880 and is currently headed by...
, where she taught singing until her retirement in 1983. She later taught privately in both New York City and Philadelphia until returning to Michigan where she lived in Southfield
Southfield, Michigan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...
until her death of complications of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
at the age of 84.