Pons, Lily

Pons, Lily

(pänz, Fr. pôNs), 1904–76, French-American coloratura soprano. Pons studied piano at the Paris Conservatory. She made her debut in Delibes's Lakmé at Mulhouse, Alsace, in 1928. She first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 1931, and the company revived several operas especially for her. Pons appeared in three motion pictures. In 1938 she married the conductor André Kostelanetz.

Pons, Lily (Alice Joséphine)

(1898–1976) soprano; born in Draguignan, France. Making her operatic debut in 1928, she sang primarily in provincial French theaters before her highly successful Metropolitan Opera debut in New York (1931). A fine dramatic coloratura, she had a glamorous international career during the 1930s and gave concerts until 1972. She also appeared in several 1930s films.