Lorenzo Alvary, also Lorenz Alvari (20 February 1909 – 13 December 1996) was a Hungarian-American operatic

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Life and career

Born in

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

, Alvary first studied law in Geneva and Budapest, then singing in Milan and Berlin. He made his opera debut in 1934 at the Royal Opera in Budapest. In 1937 he got an engagement at the Vienna State Opera. In 1938 he emigrated to the U.S., where he became an American citizen in 1944. He first performed there at the San Francisco Opera in 1939 as Ochs in '' Der Rosenkavalier'', and returned regularly until 1977. In 1942 he got an engagement at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in New York City until 1961, extended from 1962 to 1972 and again from 1977 to 1978, when he retired at the age of 69. He died there at age 87.

External links

Alvary Lorenzo
on Operissimo *

on Bach Cantatas Website
Lorenz Alvari
on Wiener Staatsoper {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvary, Lorenzo 1909 births 1996 deaths People from Debrecen American operatic basses Hungarian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Hungarian male singers