Dorothy Kirsten

American opera singer

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History

Dorothy Kirsten (born July 6, 1910, Montclair, N.J., U.S.—died Nov. 18, 1992, Los Angeles, Calif.) was an American opera singer, a lyric soprano who, in her 30-year career with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, specialized in title role interpretations of Giacomo Puccini’s operas Manon Lescaut, Tosca, La Bohème, and Madama Butterfly.

Kirsten studied at Juilliard in New York City before becoming the protégé of soprano Grace Moore, who sponsored her trip to Rome to study with Italian music teacher Astolfo Pescia. When she returned to the United States, she made her professional concert debut in a stage show at the New York World’s Fair (1939). Moore helped her secure an engagement with the Chicago opera, where in 1940 she made her operatic debut as Poussette in Manon by Jules Massenet. She made her first appearances with the San Carlo Opera in 1942, the New York City Opera in 1944, and the San Francisco opera in 1947.

Kirsten’s first role with the Metropolitan was Mimi in La Bohème in December 1945. Besides Puccini portrayals, she also performed leading roles in Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and Faust, Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. She appeared on television and in such motion pictures as Mr. Music (1950) and The Great Caruso (1951). Though she formally retired from the Metropolitan in 1976, she continued to return for special engagements.