Dolores Wilson

Dolores Mae Wilson (August 9, 1928 – September 28, 2010) was an American coloratura soprano who had an active international opera career from the late 1940s through the early 1960s.

After her parents separated, she moved to New York City with her fashion designer mother, who counted Dinah Shore and Loretta Young among her customers.

[2] At the age of 16 she began singing on American radio;[3] and her talents were noticed and supported by then General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera Edward Johnson and Met soprano Lucrezia Bori.

[2] She traveled to Italy to pursue training in opera in Venice with the famed soprano Toti Dal Monte;[3] partially because her maternal grandparents hailed from that country.

[1] In November 1948 Wilson made her professional opera debut at the Teatro Grande in Brescia under the name Dolores Vilsoni as Rosina in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Cesare Siepi as her Basilio.

[2] Wilson made her United States operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in February 1954 in the title role in Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, performing together with tenor Jan Peerce.

[2] At the Metropolitan Opera in March 1959, Wilson removed a neck brace she was wearing and filled in for Lily Pons in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor, completing the performance but collapsing in her dressing room afterward and being taken to the hospital.

[1] Wilson continued to perform internationally in operas in the early 1960s; appearing in theatres in the United States, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and South America.