Pedro Lavirgen

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Pedro Lavirgen Gil (born July 31, 1930 in Bujalance , Andalusia ) is a Spanish opera singer with a tenor voice . He is one of the greatest singers of his time.

life and work

Pedro Lavirgen and Montserrat Caballé in Turandot ( Teatro Liceu , Barcelona 1980)

Lavirgen first became a primary school teacher, but then took singing lessons from Miguel Barrosa and Carlota Dahmen . In 1959 he made his debut in Zaragoza in the Zarzuela Marina by Emilio Arrieta . In 1964 he won an international singing competition in Barcelona. In the same year he made his operatic debut at the Mexico City Opera - as Radames in Verdi's Aida . Kutsch / Riemens write that "a brilliant career began, especially at the big theaters in Spain and South America". Although the main focus of his roles was on the spinto subject (Radames, Casio, Rodolfo), his repertoire ranged from lyrical roles (Herzog, Edgardo) to heroic roles (Otello, Kalaf).

Long-term collaboration linked him with the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona, ​​where Lavirgen appeared from 1966 to 1982 - in numerous Verdi roles and also in Zarzuelas. In 1968 he made a guest appearance in Madrid. In North America there was a single appearance at the Metropolitan Opera (as Cavaradossi in the 1968/69 season) as well as a series of performances at the opera houses of Philadelphia (including Pollione on the side of Joan Sutherland ), Montreal (as Canio) and New Orleans (as Radames). In Latin America he could be seen and heard in Santiago de Chile (as Cavaradossi) and in Buenos Aires (as Arrigo and Don Carlos). He made two guest appearances in Tokyo, in 1973 as Don José and in 1985 with a Zarzuela troupe from Spain.

In the German-speaking area he made his debut in 1966 at the Vienna State Opera , where he performed regularly until 1980. He sang ten different roles in Vienna, including seven times Don Carlos, nine times Manrico and 16 times Canio. He was also a guest of the State Operas of Munich and Hamburg. In 1981 he took over the title role in Verdi's Otello in Spiel am See at the Bregenz Festival . Most of Pedro Lavirgen's appearances took place in Italy. In 1971 he sang Don José at the Teatro Regio of Turin, 1972 the Kalaf at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, 1974 Kalaf, Don José and Alvaro in the Arena di Verona , 1975 Manrico at the Teatro Margherita in Genoa and Don José at the Teatro Comunale from Bologna. In the same year Lavirgen made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan - as Radames and Don José. In 1976 he returned to the Arena di Verona as Radames, and in 1979 he took on Don José at the Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata.

In 1970 he sang Andrea Chénier at the Dublin Opera. He also played Don José, one of his star roles, in 1976 at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London and in 1978 at the Edinburgh International Festival . In 1978 he also sang Pollione in London. He also made guest appearances in Prague and several times in Budapest.

Role Directory

Zarzuelas

Operas

Bellini :

Bizet :

Cilea :

Donizetti :

Giordano :

Leoncavallo :

Mascagni :

Montemezzi :

 

Puccini :

Giuseppe Verdi :

Audio documents

There are only a few recordings of the singer. Probably the best known is a complete recording of Verdi's Aida with Jessye Norman in the title role, which is particularly popular with collectors because of Norman, who seldom sang and recorded operas. The almost unknown opera L'amore dei tre re by Sem Benelli (libretto) and Italo Montemezzi (music) was recorded in an exemplary production at the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona. A complete recording of Verdi's Vespri siciliani with Martina Arroyo as a female counterpart comes from Buenos Aires . In addition, there are only a few hit arias on recordings from operas by Verdi, Giordano and Puccini - and a number of Zarzuelas .

source

Web links

Commons : Pedro Lavirgen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual proof

  1. ^ Archives of the Vienna State Opera: Performances with Pedro Lavirgen , accessed on June 20, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Lavirgen, Pedro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish opera singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH July 31, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Bujalance , Andalusia