Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Della Pergola, Edith, 1915-2009
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Edith Leb
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1915-2009
History
Edith Della Pergola (nee Leb) was born 12 June 1915 in Cluj, Rumania. She studied voice at the Bucharest Royal Academy of Music, where her teacher was Luciano Della Pergola. They were married in in 1935. She graduated from the Bucharest Royal Academy of Music in 1939, at which point she recieved a scholarship to study in Florence, where she debuted as Mimi in "La Bohème". From 1936 to 1947, she also performed as the lead soprano with the Bucharest Opera.
In 1942, the Della Pergolas founded the Alberto Della Pergola Conservatory, where they taught between 1942 and 1947. Between 1947 and 1955, the Della Pergolas sang in different parts of Europe. Edith sang in Vienna at the Vienna Staatsoper, Zurich at the Stadttheatre, and at the Teatro San Carlo from 1950-1952.
The Della Pergolas immigrated to Montreal in 1955, and they founded the McGill Opera Studio in 1956, where they taught and directed together until 1977. Edith continued the workshop until her own retirement in 1989, when both were appointed professor emeritus at McGill University.
Edith Della Pergola was invested as a member of the Order of Canada in 1994, and in 2002 she was inducted into the Canadian Opera Hall of Fame. She passed away 2 July 2009.