Lorengar, Pilar (real name, Pilar Lorenza García)
Lorengar, Pilar (real name, Pilar Lorenza García)
Lorengar, Pilar (real name, Pilar Lorenza García), prominent Spanish soprano; b. Saragossa, Jan. 16, 1928; d. Berlin, June 2, 1996. She studied with Angeles Ottein in Madrid, where she made her debut as a mezzo-soprano in zarzuela (1949); after becoming a soprano in 1951, she made her operatic debut as Cherubino at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1955. Her first appearance in the U.S. took place that same year as Rosario in a concert perf. of Goyescas in N.Y. She made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Violetta in 1955, making frequent appearances there from 1964; also sang at the Glyndebourne Festivals (1956–60) and the Berlin Deutsche Oper (from 1958). On Feb. 11, 1966, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Donna Elvira. She was named a Kammersängerin of the Berlin Deutsche Oper in 1963, and in 1984 lifetime member of the company on the occasion of her 25th anniversary with it. Her final appearance there was as Tosca on June 9, 1990. She received the Medallo d’Oro de Zaragoza of Saragossa and the Order of Isabella de Catolica (1965), as well as the San Francisco Opera Medal (1989). Among her finest roles were Donna Anna, Fiordiligi, Countess Almaviva, Alice Ford, Eva, and Mélisande.
Bibliography
W. Eisner and M. Busch, P. L: Ein Porträt (Berlin, 1985).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire