There are a lot of opera stars born in April. They include the likes of Walter Berry, Leonard Warren, Monserrat Caballe, Lily Pons, Mariela Devia, Franco Corelli, Sondra Radvanovsky, Danielle De Niese, Natalie Dessay, Fiorenza Cossotto, Siegfried Jerusalem, Gianni Raimondi, Leo Nucci, Italo Tajo, and several others. So to celebrate the April birthdays we are going to dedicate this quiz {…}
Lily Pons, Montserrat Caballé, and Mariella Devia are some of the greatest sopranos of their respective generations. They were all also born on April 12. So for this edition of the quiz, we make a statement and ask you to guess, which soprano it refers to. What is most fascinating about these three singers is that despite very distinct and {…}
Lily Pons was one of the great opera stars of the early 20th century. Born on April 12, 1898 in Draguignan, France, she started to study the piano at the Paris Conservatory, winning the top prize at age 15. During World War I, she played the piano and sang for soldiers. In 1925, she was encouraged to take singing lessons, {…}
On first glance, you would never find the commonalities between Monserrat Caballé and Lily Pons. The two sopranos, one Spanish and the other French-American, are known for distinctly different repertoire. The former had a wide range that saw her dominate both bel canto and dramatic repertoire while the latter was best known for more delicate roles, particularly in her native {…}