Gorr, Rita
Gorr, Rita
Gorr, Rita (real name, Marguerite Geirnaert), noted Belgian mezzo-soprano; b. Zelzaete, Feb. 18, 1926. She was a student in Ghent of Poelfiet and in Brussels of Pacquot-d’Assy. After winning 1st prize in the Verviers Competition in 1946, she made her formal operatic debut as Fricka in Antwerp in 1949, and then sang in Strasbourg (1949-52). In 1952 she won 1st prize in the Lausanne Competition, which led to engagements at the Opera- Comique and the Opera in Paris that same year. In 1958 she appeared at the Bayreuth Festival for the first time. In 1959 she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Amneris, where she sang regularly with notable success until 1971. In 1960 she sang at Milan’s La Scala for the first time as Kundry. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Amneris on Oct. 17, 1962, and remained on its roster until 1967. Gorr was a remarkably versatile artist, excelling in the works of Wagner and Verdi as well as in the French repertory Among her memorable roles were Fricka, Kundry, Ortrud, Azucena, Eboli, Amneris, Ulrica, Char-lotte, Dalila, and Berlioz’s Dido.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire