The sad news was posted on Facebook by the Grand Theatre–National Opera (Teatr Wielki) in Warsaw.
“Goodbye, Maestra ... Her unparalleled lyrical soprano with captivating timbre and dramatic possibilities delighted audiences of both concert halls and opera theatres around the world: New York, Paris, Munich, London, Milan," Teatr Wielki wrote.
"Teresa Żylis-Gara, the most famous Polish soprano, legend of the opera stage, promoter of Polish music, teacher, has passed away. Honour her memory!" Polish Culture Minister Piotr Gliński wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
A graduate of the Music Conservatory in Łódź, central Poland, Żylis-Gara made her operatic debut as the eponymous heroine in Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka in 1956.
With her spectacular 1966 performance as Donna Elvira in 'Don Giovanni' in Paris, she launched her international career in opera houses, initially in Germany where she became a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1965.
Three years later she was signed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she sang in the next 14 seasons until her farewell show in 1984 after 233 performances.
Her partners on the operatic stage included iconic stars such as Jose Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, Franco Corelli, Placido Domingo and Sherill Milnes.
During the 1980s she sang in opera houses throughout the world, including each season at Covent Garden from 1976 to 1980. She was also a soloist at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, La Scala in Milan, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. She also performed in operas houses in Amsterdam and Miami.
Żylis-Gara lived in Monaco since 1980.
In its tribute note, the London-based Gramophone magazine recalled a John Steane review of a 1983 recital of Chopin songs, which read: “With a full-bodied lyric soprano voice, normally of beautiful quality, she has proved herself one of the most reliable of operatic artists in an international career that now spans very nearly 20 years, during which time the recording companies have used but hardly “promoted” her.’
(mo)
source: PAP, gramophone.co.uk, Wikipedia