Donalda (real name, Lightstone), Pauline
Donalda (real name, Lightstone), Pauline
Donalda (real name, Lightstone), Pauline, Canadian soprano; b. Montreal, March 5, 1882; d. there, Oct. 22, 1970. The original family name was Lichtenstein, which her father changed to Lightstone when he became a British subject. She received her first musical training at Royal Victoria Coll. in Montreal, and then was a private pupil of Duvernoy in Paris. She made her operatic debut as Massenet’s Manon in Nice, Dec. 30, 1904; the next year she appeared at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and at Covent Garden in London; in 1906–07 she appeared at the Manhattan Opera House in N.Y., and in London and Paris, mainly in oratorios and concerts. From the time of her retirement in 1922 until 1937 she had a singing school in Paris; in 1937 she returned to Montreal. In 1938 she presented her valuable music library (MSS, autographs, and music) to McGill Univ. In 1942 she founded the Opera Guild in Montreal, serving as its president until it ceased operations in 1969. In 1967 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Her stage name was taken in honor of Sir Donald Smith (later Lord Strathcona), who endowed the Royal Victoria Coll. and was her patron.
Bibliography
C. Brotman, P. D. (Montreal, 1975).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire