Lucine Amara
Born 1925, Hartford, CT
In the 1950s and ‘60s, whenever a much-anticipated star soprano cancelled a performance at the Met, the company would call Lucine Amara. Although the audience was always unhappy about the cancellation, they usually were not disappointed by the replacement.
While she did not possess the gorgeous timbre of Renata Tebaldi or the dramatic gifts of Maria Callas, Amara always delivered an outstanding performance.
She made her Met debut in Rudolf Bing’s first year as General Manager (1950) and in the first opera he presented, Don Carlo. She sang the Celestial Voice, sharing the stage with Jussi Bjoerling, Robert Merrill, Fedora Barbieri, Cesare Siepi, Jerome Hines, and Delia Rigal. Even among that stellar cast and in a small role, Amara’s debut was fine enough to secure a contract with the company, where she sang 56 roles over the next 41 seasons.
In the mid-1970s she was offered only a “cover” contract, under which she would stand in for sopranos who cancelled. She sued the Met management for age discrimination (at age 51), won the suit, and sang infrequently with the company afterwards.
Amara is perhaps best remembered for portraying Musetta in a recording of La Bohéme with Jussi Bjoerling, Victoria De Los Angeles, Robert Merrill, and Giorgio Tozzi, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham —- a classic!
As a sample of Amara in French repertoire, listen to a scene from Offenbach’s Les Conte d’Hoffmann with Nicolai Gedda.