Soprano Lily Pons ~ Estrellita (1974)

Soprano Lily Pons (1898-1976) / Estrellia (Ponce) / Recorded: December 1974 (at age 76, her last public appearance) --

French-American coloratura soprano Lily Pons (April 12, 1898 February 13, 1976), was born Alice "Lili" Joséphine Pons in Draguignan near Cannes. She first studied piano at the Paris Conservatory, winning the First Prize at the age of 15. At the onset of World War I, in 1914, Lili moved to Cannes with her mother and younger sister Juliette (born 22 December 1902) where she played piano and sang for soldiers at receptions given in support of the French troops and at the famous Hotel Carlton that had been transformed into a hospital, and where her mother, Marie Pons, worked as a volunteer nurse orderly. In 1925, encouraged by soprano Dyna Beumer, she started taking singing lessons from Alberto de Gorostiaga in Paris. She successfully made her operatic debut in the title role of Léo Delibes' Lakmé at Mulhouse in 1928 and went on to sing several coloratura roles in French provincial opera houses.

She was discovered by the impresario Giovanni Zenatello, who took her to New York where she auditioned for Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera.The Met needed a star coloratura after the retirement of Amelita Galli-Curci in January 1930. On January 3, 1931, Pons, unknown in the US, made an unheralded Met debut as Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and on that occasion the spelling of her first name was changed to "Lily". Against all odds, her performance received tremendous acclaim. She became a star overnight and inherited most of Galli-Curci's important coloratura roles. She also signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records.

Pons was a principal soprano at the Met for thirty years, appearing 300 times in ten roles from 1931 until 1960. Her most frequent performances were as Lucia (93 performances), Lakmé (50 performances), Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto (49 performances), and Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville (33 performances).

Other roles in her repertoire included Olympia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman, Philine in Ambroise Thomas's Mignon, Amina in Bellini's La Sonnambula, Marie in Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment, the title role in Delibes' Lakme,the Queen in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel, and the title role in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, (a role she sang in the opera's Met premiere on March 1, 1934). The last major new role Lily Pons performed (she had actually learned the role during her first season at The Met) was Violetta in Traviata, which she sang at the San Francisco Opera. In her last performance at the Met, on December 14, 1960, she sang "Caro nome" from Rigoletto as part of a gala performance. She also made guest appearances at the Opéra Garnier in Paris, Covent Garden in London, La Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Chicago Opera and the San Francisco Opera. After her Met farewell, she continued to sing concerts until 1973.

She starred in three RKO films: I Dream Too Much (1935) with Henry Fonda, That Girl From Paris (1936) and Hitting a New High (1937).

In 1940, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Her first husband was August Mesritz, a man some twenty years her senior. From 1938 to 1958, she was married to the conductor André Kostelanetz. During World War II, she toured the battlefields of North Africa and East Asia. Her country of birth awarded her the Croix de Lorraine and the Légion d'Honneur.

She died of pancreatic cancer in Dallas, Texas at the age of 77, and her remains were brought back to her birthplace to be interred in the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes on the French Riviera. Her nephew, John de Bry (son of her sister Juliette), an archaeologist living in Florida, is her only surviving relative in the United States.

A village in Frederick County, Maryland, 10 miles south of Frederick, Maryland is called "Lilypons" in her honor. The town is known for its commercial tropical fish ponds.

George Gershwin was in the process of writing a piece of music dedicated to her when he died in 1937. The incomplete sketch was found among Gershwin's papers after his death and was eventually revived and completed by Michael Tilson Thomas and given the simple title 'For Lily Pons'.

In the late 1930s she made three movies for RKO; there is a large legacy of recordings, mostly on the RCA Victor and Columbia labels, many of which are available on CD. (wikipedia)

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Category:

Music

Tags:

• Soprano
• Lily
• Pons
• Estrellita
• 33RPM
• CurzonRoad

[skatesindreams]

I remember watching this episode of the "Merv Griffin Show".

We owe him a debt of gratitude for featuring many great artists on his program.

A remarkabke performance!

[CurzonRoad]

@skatesindreams

Thank YOU... very much!

[gmmix]

She sings astonishingly well for a soprano of seven decades. In point of fact,

were we not to know her age at the time of this recording, we'd probably never

guess she was nearly 75. Thanks for this post.

[andyrawn]

DOUG ~

You've done it again ~ absolutely entrancing!

~ ANDY

[billyfuryfan64]

This is so amazing considering that she was almost 75. Al lot of singers loose their voices much earlier. She was exceptional! Thanks for sharing. RIP LILY!

[fpngan]

This is astonishing!

[unpodimusica1]

WOw, this is amazing! She'd lost none of her fantastic range at 76, and even if the timbre had changed, her voice was no less beautiful for it. What a document! Thank you, Doug!

[jovi1715]

unbelievable!

[StuartLou]

Wow! I've waited soo long to hear this again. Love it. Love Lily.

[mayatatyana1]

Doug, thank you again. Maya

[mayatatyana1]

Doug, I have loved this song since childhood. Thank you very much. Maya

[mayatatyana1]

Astounding voice at 76! Thank you very much for this wonderful recording. Maya