- Gilda Cruz-Romo
Gilda Cruz-Romo (
February 12 ,1940 ) is aMexican opera ticsoprano , particularly associated with dramatic roles of the Italian repertory, notably "Aida " and "Tosca ".Born in
Guadalajara, Jalisco , she studied at theMexico City Conservatory with Angel Esquivel. She made her debut in Mexico City, as Ortlinde in "Die Walküre ", in 1962.Her international career took off with her debut at the
New York City Opera in 1969, as Margherita in "Mefistofele ". The following year, onDecember 18 ,1970 , she made her debut at theMetropolitan Opera in New York, as Cio-Cio-San in "Madama Butterfly ", and remained at the Met until 1984. Her roles there included; Nedda, Violetta, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, Tosca, Aida, Elisabeth de Valois, Desdemona, Amelia, bothVerdi 's Leonoras, from "Il trovatore " and "La forza del destino ". She also appeared at the opera houses ofChicago ,Houston ,Dallas ,San Francisco ,New Orleans ,Boston ,Philadelphia ,Baltimore , etc.She also appeared in Europe, making her debut at the
Royal Opera House in London in 1972, andLa Scala in Milan in 1973, both as Aida. She scored a triumph as "Luisa Miller " in 1974, in a live performance with theRAI Torino, oppositeLuciano Pavarotti , and conducted byPeter Maag . She sang at theVerona Arena , theRome Opera ,La Fenice in Venice, theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, etc.In 1973, she also made her debut at the
Vienna State Opera , as Leonora in "La forza del destino", also singing "Madama Butterfly" and "Luisa Miller". She also appeared at theBolshoi in Moscow, theLiceo in Barcelona, theTeatro Nacional Sao Carlos in Lisbon, and thePalais Garnier in Paris.During the 1988-89 season, she added the role of
Cherubini 's "Medea" to her repertory, and sang the role of Matilde in the American premiere ofMascagni 's "Silvano ", at the New Jersey Opera.Cruz-Romo has been very active in concert and recital as well. She did not make any commercial recordings but can be heard in a few "live performances" of her best roles.
An appreciation of Gilda Cruz-Romo: http://oberon481.typepad.com/oberons_grove/2008/07/singers-gilda-cruz-romo.html
elected recordings
* Verdi - "Luisa Miller" - Gilda Cruz-Romo, Luciano Pavarotti, Cristina Angelakova, Matteo Manuguerra, Raffaele Arié, Ferruccio Mazzoli - Coro e Orchestra della Rai Torino, Peter Maag.
* Verdi - "Il trovatore" - Carlo Cossutta, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Fiorenza Cossotto, Matteo Manuguerra, Agostino Ferrin - Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Riccardo Muti.
ources
* "The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia", edited by David Hamilton, (Simon & Schuster, 1987) ISBN 0-671-61732-X
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