Lily Pons

Lily Pons

Lily Pons, CKAC , Montreal

Alice-Joséphine Pons (born April 12, 1898 in Draguignan near Cannes , † February 13, 1976 in Dallas ) was a French-American opera singer ( coloratura soprano ) and film actress.

Life

Lily Pons was born in Draguignan, southern France, in 1898 and began training as a concert pianist before switching to singing. After engagements at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris and at French provincial theaters , she made her debut in 1927 as Lakmé in the opera of the same name by Léo Delibes at the Mulhouse City Theater . In 1930 she came to America, where she made her debut a year later as Lucia di Lammermoor in Donizetti's opera of the same name at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Lily Pons remained associated with the Met for 30 years until 1961, appearing in 280 performances. In addition, she has made guest appearances at numerous opera stages around the world. Her coloratura singing received special attention . In 1972 she gave a highly regarded recital at the Lincoln Center Philharmonic.

In the 1930s she starred in some mediocre Hollywood films for RKO in an attempt to build them up in response to Grace Moore . In Hitting a New High , she even had to appear as Oogahunga, the Bird-Girl. Since 1938 Lily Pons was married to the American conductor André Kostelanetz .

Marlene Dietrich confirmed that Lily Pons was the only singer other than her to appear on the French front against the German occupation forces during World War II .

Lily Pons died in Dallas in 1976 and found her final resting place at the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes .

In Maryland there is the city of Lilypons in her honor.

Filmography

• 1935: I Dream Too Much
• 1936: That Girl from Paris
• 1937: Hitting a New High
• 1947: Carnegie Hall (filmed revue with no actual plot)

Web links

Commons : Lily Pons  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Lily Pons in the Internet Movie Database (English)