One of Barbirolli's favourite sopranos in the 1960s, I first heard her sing at the Free Trade Hall during that period. I remember being captivated by the beauty of sound and the commitment in her singing. Her reputation spread and she sang in opera as well as the concert hall. My only disappointment was in her recordings, where she often seemed (to me) to be weak and insecure, with over-close microphone playing. She sounded well in VW's Serenade to Music, but I was very disappointed with her singing of Mary in Hugh the Drover, Eigen in Elgar's Caractacus and Mary in The Apostles.
Indeed, I began to think SA was a singer with a week voice that engineers thought needed amplification, and that I had been mistaken in my original assessment of her. So when I went to a performance of Elgar's "The Kingdom" in the 1980s, I thought extreme tolerence would be necessary.
How wrong could I have been? Here was a singer whose body language told us just how in tune she was with the music and she sang gloriously throughout.
I never again heard her sing live, as she retired at the age of 51.
Indeed, I began to think SA was a singer with a week voice that engineers thought needed amplification, and that I had been mistaken in my original assessment of her. So when I went to a performance of Elgar's "The Kingdom" in the 1980s, I thought extreme tolerence would be necessary.
How wrong could I have been? Here was a singer whose body language told us just how in tune she was with the music and she sang gloriously throughout.
I never again heard her sing live, as she retired at the age of 51.
My thought too!
Only if you spell my name correctly...
Comment