Amara (real name, Armaganian), Lucine
Amara (real name, Armaganian), Lucine
Amara (real name, Armaganian), Lucine, American soprano; b. Hartford, Conn., March 1, 1925. She studied with Stella Eisner–Eyn in San Francisco, and attended the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara (1947) and the Univ. of Southern Calif, in Los Angeles (1949–50). She also studied with Bobbi Tillander. In 1945 she became a member of the San Francisco Opera chorus. She made her concert debut in San Francisco in 1946, and then sang the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos and appeared as Lady Billows in Albert Herring in 1949. On Nov. 6, 1950, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as the Celestial Voice in Don Carlos. She continued to sing there until 1991, appearing in 56 lyric or dramatic roles in 882 stage performances. Her other operatic engagements took her to the Edinburgh (1954) and Glyndebourne (1954–55; 1957–58) festivals, the Vienna State Opera (1960), Russia (1965), and China (1983). She also appeared as a soloist with many U.S. orchs. In later years, she served as artistic director of the N.J. Assn. of Verismo Opera and gave master classes in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Among her finest roles were Gluck’s Eurydice, Donna Elvira, Elsa, Verdi’s Leonora and Aida, Nedda, Musetta, Mimi, and Ariadne.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire