Pauly, Rosa (actually, Rose née Pollak)
Pauly, Rosa (actually, Rose née Pollak)
Pauly, Rosa (actually, Rose née Pollak), noted Hungarian soprano; b. Eperjes, March 15,1894; d. Kfar Shmaryahn, near Tel Aviv, Dec. 14, 1975. She studied voice with Rosa Papier in Vienna, and made her operatic debut at the Vienna State Opera as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello in 1918. She subsequently sang in Hamburg, Cologne, and Mannheim. From 1927 to 1931 she was a member of the Kroll Opera in Berlin; also of the Vienna State Opera (1929–35); in 1934 she sang the challenging role of Elektra in Strauss’s opera in Salzburg, gathering encomiums; in 1935 she appeared at La Scala in Milan. She made her American debut as Elektra in a concert performance with the N.Y. Phil, on March 21, 1937, a role she reprised at her first appearance with the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. on Jan. 7, 1938; appeared there until 1940; also sang at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in 1939. In 1946 she went to Palestine, and devoted herself to teaching in Tel Aviv. She was esteemed for her roles in the operas of Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner, but most particularly for her compelling portrayals of such Strauss roles as Elektra, the Dyer’s Wife, and Helena.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire