Zylis-Gara, Teresa
Zylis-Gara, Teresa
Zylis-Gara, Teresa, Polish soprano; b. Landvarov, Jan. 23, 1935. She was a student of Olga Ogina at the Lodz Academy of Music. After taking 1st prize in the Warsaw Competition in 1954, she sang on the radio and with the Phil. in Krakow. In 1956 she made her operatic debut as Halka in Katowice, and then sang in various Polish music centers. In 1960 she won 1st prize in the Munich Competition, which led to an engagement in Oberhausen. In 1962 she sang in Dortmund and in 1965 in Düsseldorf. In 1965 she made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Octavian. She sang in Paris in 1966. In 1968 she appeared as Donna Elvira at the Salzburg Festival and made her Covent Garden debut in London as Violetta. On Dec. 17, 1968, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Donna Elvira, and continued on its roster until 1984. From 1972 she also sang at the Vienna State Opera. In 1973 she appeared in Barcelona. She sang Liù at the Orange Festival in 1979. In 1988 she appeared as Desdemona at the Hamburg State Opera. Throughout the years, she also pursued an active concert career. Among her other operatic roles were Fiordiligi, Tatiana, Manon Lescaut, Elisabeth, Elsa, Anna Bolena, and the Marschallin.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire