Elizabeth Connell

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This article is about the opera singer. For the doctor, see Elizabeth Connell (doctor).

Elizabeth Connell
Born(1946-10-22)22 October 1946
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Died18 February 2012(2012-02-18) (aged 65)
London, England
OccupationSopranoMezzo-soprano
SubjectMusic

Frances Elizabeth Connell[1] (22 October 1946 – 18 February 2012) was a South African-born operatic mezzo-soprano, and later soprano, whose career took place mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Connell was born in

Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1946, to a Catholic father from South Africa and a Protestant mother from Port Elizabeth, one of five children. She read music at the University of the Witwatersrand
, and after taking her degree, taught music and geography in secondary school.

Connell attained an opera scholarship to the

The Proms in Mahler's Symphony No 8.[2] She then had a regular five-year association with English National Opera
.

In 1983, Connell transitioned to singing full-time as a soprano, by cancelling all of her engagements for mezzo parts, and taking time to avoid speaking or singing, with subsequent gradual transition into soprano roles. Her early performances as a soprano included Corine from

Opéra de Paris debut was in 1987 as Senta (The Flying Dutchman).[4] In 2004, she sang Leonore in a performance of Fidelio by Cape Town Opera staged at Robben Island, 10 years after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison there.[4]

Connell's final performance was a recital on 27 November 2011 in Hastings.[2] She had intended to retire to Australia, but the diagnosis of her cancer prevented this. She died in London on 18 February 2012, aged 65. She married baritone Robert Eddie in 1987; the marriage ended in dissolution.[1] Her three brothers John, Peter, and Paul, and her sister Rosemary survive her.[3]

Legacy

Her will provided an endowment to assist aspiring dramatic sopranos. Named the Elizabeth Connell prize in her honour, it is administered by the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation.[5]

Recordings

Her many recordings include

Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder (Denon, Eliahu Inbal), Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (Squires Productions, Eve Queler, Carnegie Hall Live 1997) and Schubert Lieder with Graham Johnson, as part of Hyperion Records
Complete Schubert Edition.

In 2008, two important CD releases were added to her discography: Her first operatic recital, singing great scenes by Wagner and Strauss for

ABC Classics, conducted by Muhai Tang, and Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave, conducted by Richard Hickox. Elizabeth Connell also recorded portions of Sir Granville Bantock's "The Song of Songs" under the baton of Vernon Handley
, for Hyperion.

Some of her opera performance's recorded for television have also been released on DVD.

Hänsel und Gretel (1998, The Royal Opera/Royal Opera House
, Opus Arte, DVD/Blu-ray).

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Elizabeth Connell". The Australian. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Elizabeth Connell". Telegraph. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b Barry Millington (19 February 2012). "Elizabeth Connell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b Elizabeth Forbes (27 February 2012). "Elizabeth Connell: Mezzo and soprano acclaimed for her Verdi and Wagner interpretations". The Independent. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  5. ^ Francisco Salazar (2023). "Elizabeth Connell Competition". OperaWire. Retrieved 24 September 2023.

External links

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