Lily Berchman
Who is Lily Berchman?
Dolores Pérez Cayuela, known by her stage name Lily Berchman, was born in Madrid on May 27, 1928, and died in the same city on August 27, 1982. She came from a family of musicians: her mother, Purificación Cayuela, sang several seasons at the Teatro Real, and her father, Juan Pérez Berchman, was a baritone and vocal coach who gave concerts across Europe before retiring from the stage to teach singing.
She showed exceptional talent from a very young age: by eleven she was already giving concerts, and her parents decided to withdraw her from public performances so she could complete a solid musical education, first as a student of Carmen Seco at the Royal School of Dramatic Art.
Career
By sixteen she already commanded much of the soprano repertoire. It was maestro Annovazzi who, after hearing her, recommended her to an impresario who hired her sight unseen, trusting the maestro’s judgment alone, bringing her into a major Italian opera company; it was then that she adopted the stage name Lily Berchman. She made her debut at the Teatro Rosalía de Castro in A Coruña in “Madama Butterfly,” earning great acclaim for her youth and vocal quality, and went on to perform in “La Bohème,” “I Pagliacci,” “Faust” and “Mefistofele.”
In 1953 she took part in the Vercelli International Singing Competition in Italy, where she was declared the winner among representatives of 38 countries, opening the door to the 1954-55 Vercelli season combined with La Scala in Milan. Shortly after, she was engaged by the Teatro San Carlo in Naples for the premiere of Alfano’s opera “Sakuntala,” a role the composer chose to give her after hearing her voice. She debuted at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in 1956-57 in “Goyescas,” returned the following year in “Gianni Schicchi,” and came back to the Liceu in 1965 to sing Liù in “Turandot.” At the Teatro de la Zarzuela she took part in the revival of “Amaya,” by Basque composer Jesús Guridi, alongside Pedro Lavirgen, and became one of the most memorable interpreters of the role of Aurora la Beltrana in “Doña Francisquita.”
Personal life
After her parents’ deaths she chose to retire quietly from the stage, leaving little trace of her final years of professional activity. She settled in Alicante, where she taught singing at the Conservatory, a post she won by competitive examination, until her death in Madrid in 1982.