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Alvary, Lorenzo, 1909-1996.
The Lorenzo Alvary papers document the professional careerof the noted bass singer. The collection contains artwork,biographical data, correspondence, press material, and many photographs of Alvary. The largest set of material isthe Operas series, which consists of publicity material, including clippings, photographs, and programs. Also of note are files relating to the opera, The Spanish Lady andthe Roman Cavalier (1961), in which Alvary appeared, and which he produced in collaboration with Salvador Dalí. Legal papers found within the Professional material seriesrelate to the trademark of the name for the radio show, Opera Topics, which Alvary created and hosted for over twenty years. There is no personal material within the collection.
Lorenzo Alvary (1909-1996) was a Hungarian-born bass singer, who immigrated to the United States, where he would enjoy a long association with the Metropolitan Operaand other prominent opera companies. Alvary was born in Debrecen, Hungary and studied law in Geneva and Budapest, but he abandoned his law career to study music in Milan and Berlin. He made his debut with the Budapest Opera in 1934 and he also sang with the Vienna State Opera in 1937.In 1938, Alvary came to the United States, making his American debut with the San Francisco Opera in a 1939 performance of Der Rosenkavalier. He joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1942 and would appear in a wide range of character roles over the next thirty-five years. Alvary also started his own radio show, Opera Topics, which he hosted on the New York stations WKCR and WNYC from 1963-1986. In 1972, he became the associate artistic director for the Miami Opera Guild. Other notable achievements by Alvary included his own production (under the auspices of the American Alvox Corportation) of The Spanish Lady and the Roman Cavalier (1961), an adaptation of Alessandro Scarlatti's opera, Scipio in Spain. The piece received its world premiere at La Fenice in Venice, Italy and featured the scenic designs (and other interventions) of the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.
July. NYPL Art and Architecture Collection.
One of 700,000 pictures in the NYPL Digital Gallery
