Pilar Lorengar - La Alsaciana (2019)

Pilar Lorengar was born in the Provincial Hospital of Our Lady of Grace (Zaragoza) and lived his first years in a humble dwelling in Las Armas Street, 92, in the neighborhood of the Hook of Zaragoza.

He attended the Duchess Villahermosa School of the Daughters of Charity, where he participated in the school choir. He became interested in zarzuela listening to it on the radio. Before beginning his musical studies he sang zarzuela in the program "Ondas Infantiles" of Radio Zaragoza de la Cadena SER.

Pilar Lorengar received the first singing lessons from Professor Margarita Martínez Alfaro. His first performances in Zaragoza were in the cafes «Avenida», «Ambos Mundos» and «Alaska». He also performed in the "Oasis" variety theater and the "Argensola" theater. He studied eight years with Ángeles Ottein and later in Berlin with Carl Ebert and Hertha Klust.

In 1949 he moved to Barcelona and enrolled in the Conservatory of Barcelona. Two years later, he returned to Madrid.

In 1952 he debuted as a soloist in Barcelona in the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven and the German Requiem of Brahms. Its debut was the 2 of May of 1951 in the Municipal Theater of Orán, Algeria, like Rose of the opera Maruxa of Amadeo Vives. As an opera singer she made her debut in 1955 as Cherubino at the International Festival of lyric art in Aix-en-Provence and then as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London. A year later he performed at the Glyndebourne Festival and in 1958 at the Colón Theater in Buenos Aires as Pamina from The Magic Flute and as protagonist in La zapatera prodigiosa by Juan José Castro directed by Margarita Xirgu.

Between 1952 and 1958, Pilar Lorengar recorded with Ataulfo ​​Argenta almost a score of zarzuelas among which stand out: «The diamonds of the crown» and «Playing with fire», by Barbieri; "The king who raged", "The dagger of roses", "The Bravías" and "La Tempestad", of Chapí; «Chateau Margaux», by Fernández Caballero; «The Alsatian», from Guerrero; "El Caserío", by Guridi; «The cadets of the queen» and «Molinos de viento», by Luna; «The master Campanone», of Lleó; «La Dogaresa», by Millán; «The Song of Oblivion» and «The Moorish Queen», by Serrano; "Las golondrinas", by Usandizaga; «Maruxa», by Vives or «La rumbosa», by Moreno Torroba.

In 1957 and after numerous collaborations recorded in Paris the last concert of the director Ataulfo ​​Argenta: the German Requiem of Brahms.

Also in 1958 she debuted in Berlin with Carmina Burana of Carl Orff and was hired by the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she remained until the end of her career as one of the most appreciated artists of the ensemble. There he devoted himself to the reopening of the theater in 1961 at Don Giovanni with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. In 1963 he was awarded the distinguished title of kammersängerin-chamber singer. In 1961 he performed for the first time in Salzburg with Idomeneo. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York he debuted in 1966 as Donna Elvira de Don Giovanni, with the same role that year he returned to Buenos Aires. Several tournées also took her to Japan. In the Metropolitan he sang 16 characters until 1982 in more than 150 performances.

She also excelled as Elisabetta in Don Carlos, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, Mignon, Liu, Eurydice, Nedda, Regina in Matías the painter, Alice in Falstaff, Marguerite de Fausto, Mimi in La bohème, Agata in The poacher, Elisabeth de Tannhäuser and Elsa de Lohengrin. Also like Micaela in Carmen, Melisande in Peleas and Melisande, Marie in The Sold Girlfriend, Jenůfa, Tatiana in Eugenio Onegin, Eva in The Masters Singers of Nuremberg obtaining great success in 1969 as Tosca directed by Lorin Maazel and Desdemona in Otello.

As a guest singer she often performed at the Vienna Opera and at concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic. His last success in Berlin was Valentine of The Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer, staged by John Dews retiring at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo in 1991. His farewell in Berlin was like Tosca, that same year. He was 63 years old and had 40 years of professional career.

On July 27, 1960, he married Dr. Jurgen Schaff.

Pilar Lorengar died of lung cancer in 1996 at the age of 68 at the Park Sanitarium in Berlin. According to his wish his ashes were scattered in the North Sea.