Lily Pons: A Centennial Portrait

James A Drake & Kristin Beall Ludecke (eds)

Editions

Review

The revival of bel canto in opera is generally credited to Maria Callas, although as this volume makes clear, many of the mainstay roles of the genre were in fact kept alive by the French-born soprano Lily Pons, who after a stunning debut in “Lucia” in 1931, was the New York Metropolitan Opera’s reigning diva for almost 30 years.  To American audiences in particular, she was the embodiment of the glamorous prima donna, bridging the gap between the eras of Amelita Galli-Curci and Callas.

Pons came late to singing in her native France, but her chic background, her movie–star looks and her diminutive figure, in stark contrast to the more substantial singers of the day, would have made her remarkable on any operatic stage.  Together with the dazzling precision of her singing - pure high notes, pinpoint staccatos and effortless runs and trills – she was able to triumph in what amount to relatively few roles, especially “Lucia”, “La Fille du Regiment” and, above all, in “Lakmé” in which her revealing costumes were truly breath-taking. [Presumably only for the audience…-Ed.] Marriage to conductor Andre Kostelanetz helped her reach film and radio audiences, which further increased her popularity.

Since this is billed as “A Centennial Portrait” and it is edited by self-confessed fans Drake and Ludecke, there are inevitably instances of unabashed hagiology, but there are splendid contributions from amongst others a decidedly unimpressed contemporary critic and a fascinating essay by the great tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi comparing the vocal techniques of eight great sopranos from Tetrazzini to Elvira Hidalgo, Callas’ teacher and no slouch with a trill herself.

Forays into the more popular arena provide a wide photographic section with not only Pons in her operatic roles, but also with a wide spectrum of unexpected co-stars including Henry Fonda, Gloria Swanson, Perry Como, and, perhaps most surprisingly, a dewy-eyed fan named Bernard Schwarz who would later make his mark as Tony Curtis. - review by Stewart Grimshaw