Oralia Dominguez (25 October 1925 in San Luis Potosí, Mexico – 25 November 2013 in Milan, Italy) was a Mexicanoperaticmezzo soprano, orcontralto, who performed at many of the world's leadingopera houses.[1]
She was born in the city ofSan Luis Potosí in northern Mexico and studied at theNational Conservatory of Music where she made the acquaintance of the composerCarlos Chavez who championed her career. She made her professional stage debut at the Mexico City Opera in 1950.
In 1951, she sang the role of Amneris inAida for the first time at thePalacio de Bellas Artes inMexico City withMaria Callas,Mario del Monaco, andGiuseppe Taddei under the direction of Italian conductorOliviero De Fabritiis.
She made her European debut in 1953 at London'sWigmore Hall. In the same year, she first appeared atLa Scala,Milan, inAdriana Lecouvreur, and performed with the company inVerdi's Requiem at theLucerne Festival. She recorded the Requiem the following year under the direction ofVictor de Sabata. In 1954, she appeared throughout Europe with such conductors asTullio Serafin,Igor Markevitch,Paul Kletzki andHerbert von Karajan. In 1955, she made her debut at theRoyal Opera HouseCovent Garden singing the role of Madame Sosostris in the world premiere ofMichael Tippett'sThe Midsummer Marriage. Also in England, she appeared atGlyndebourne in the late 1950s as Isabella inL'italiana in Algeri and Mistress Quickly inFalstaff; she appeared at Covent Garden in the latter role in 1967-8 as well.
In 1958, Dominguez was soloist inGustav Mahler's Symphony no. 2 withLeonard Bernstein conducting the Orchestre National de la RTF. The performance took place in the Théatre des Champs-Èlysées in Paris.
She performed the role of Erda in von Karajan's recording ofWagner'sRing with theBerlin Philharmonic. She recorded also Vivaldi'sJuditha triumphans (underAlberto Zedda). Her other recordings, mainly live performances, includeSamson et Dalila,Aida,La Gioconda (La Cieca),Il tabarro,Un ballo in maschera,Trovatore, Tippett'sMidsummer Marriage (Madame Sosostris), Verdi's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Rossini'sPetite messe solennelle, De Falla'sEl amor brujo, Mahler'sDas Lied von der Erde, Brahms'sAlto Rhapsody. She recordedCarmen (excerpts, in German) and a recital of arias (Donizetti, Rossini, Cilea, Verdi) made early in her career by Deutsche Grammophon which has been reissued.
A 1958 performance from Naples ofLa forza del destino, with the contralto as Preziosilla, oppositeRenata Tebaldi,Ettore Bastianini,Franco Corelli,Boris Christoff, andRenato Capecchi is on DVD.
Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1992).The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2.
