Hidalgo, Elvira de

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Hidalgo, Elvira de

Hidalgo, Elvira de, Spanish soprano and teacher; b. Aragón, Dec. 27, 1892; d. Milan, Jan. 21, 1980. She studied with Bordalba in Barcelona and Vidal in Milan. In 1908 she made her operatic debut as Rossini’s Rosina in Naples. On March 7, 1910, she sang that role in her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y., returning there for the 1924-26 seasons. She also appeared at Milan’s La Scala (1916), in Rome (1919), at Buenos Aires’s Teatro Colón (1922), and at London’s Covent Garden (1924). From 1932 she devoted herself to teaching, being the mentor of Maria Callas in Athens. She later taught in Ankara (1949–59) and then in Milan. In addition to Rosina, she was greatly admired for her portrayals of Gilda, Linda, Philine, Elvira, Musetta, and Lakmé.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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