Alvary, Lorenzo

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Alvary, Lorenzo

Alvary, Lorenzo, Hungarian-born American bass; b. Debrecen, Feb. 20, 1909; d. N.Y., Dec. 13, 1996. He studied law at the univs. of Geneva (B.L., 1930) and Budapest (LL.M., 1932) and voice in Milan and Berlin. In 1934 he made his operatic debut at the Budapest Opera, and then sang at the Vienna State Opera in 1937. In 1938 he emigrated to the U.S., becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1944. In 1939 he made his U.S. debut as the Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier at the San Francisco Opera, where he returned regularly until 1977. On Nov. 26, 1942, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Zuñiga, remaining on its roster until 1961; was on its roster there again (1962–72, 1977–78).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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