Jean Hindmarsh (born 1932) is a retired English singer and actress. She is best known as a principal soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jean Hindmarsh (born 1932) is a retired English singer and actress. She is best known as a principal soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1950s and 1960s.
Hindmarsh was born in Leeds and educated at Lawnswood High School. [1] There, she was prominent in the school's musical and theatrical productions, including Merrie England in 1950, in which she played Sir Walter Raleigh. [2] Hindmarsh gained her teaching diploma (ARMCM) from the Royal College of Music in Manchester and then continued to study opera for an additional 18 months. She played the lead in two college productions and sang in concerts and oratorios. Hindmarsh was the runner-up in the first Kathleen Ferrier Competition in 1955 [3] and won the Blackpool heat against 97 competitors. A representative from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company heard her performance and invited her to audition. [4]
Hindmarsh was engaged by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in March 1956 as principal soprano. Over the next four years, she played the title role in Princess Ida , Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance , Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard , Gianetta in The Gondoliers and Josephine in HMS Pinafore , soon adding the small role of Lady Ella in Patience . In 1959, she began instead to play the title role in Patience. [5] Hindmarsh married in 1960 and left the D'Oyly Carte organisation when she was expecting her first child. She rejoined the Company as a guest artist in her old roles for seasons in 1961–62, 1962–63, in the spring of 1963, 1963–64, and in the spring of 1969. [5] These included two London seasons, one provincial tour and one American tour. [6] In reviewing Princess Ida in 1961, The Times wrote that, in the title role, "Hindmarsh charms, amuses and... moves the audience". [7] That paper commented on a 1962 performance of The Gondoliers: "Outstanding among last night's cast was Miss Jean Hindmarsh, a winning Giannetta both in appearance and voice." [8]
In recent years, Hindmarsh has performed and given talks at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. [9] [10] At the Festival, in 1999, Hindmarsh and baritone Michael Rayner gave the world premiere performance of "Reflect, my child", a song cut from H.M.S. Pinafore before the opera opened in 1878 and reconstructed in 1998. [11] [12]
Hindmarsh sings the lead soprano roles on four D'Oyly Carte recordings: Yum-Yum in The Mikado (1957), [13] Mabel in Pirates (1957), Josephine in Pinafore (1960), [14] and Rose Maybud in Ruddigore (1962), [15] even though she never played Yum-Yum or Rose with the company. [5] Of the 1957 Pirates, reviewer Mel Moratti wrote, "The highlights must be the pairing of Thomas Round and Jean Hindmarsh as Frederic and Mabel. Their solos and duets are most delightful". [16] The Rough Guide to Opera comments that she "is a uniquely charming Josephine" in Pinafore. [17]
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known.
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances.
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The company was revived for short seasons and tours from 1988 to 2003, and since 2013 it has co-produced four of the operas with Scottish Opera.
Gillian Knight is an English opera singer and actress, known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy operas. After six years from 1959 to 1965 starring in these roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Knight began a grand opera career.
Geraldine Ulmar was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Helen Florence Roberts, later known as Betty Roberts and by her married name, Betty Walker, was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
George Cook was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the bass and bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Elsie Griffin was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Patricia Leonard was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in mezzo-soprano and contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Pauline Wales was an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Clara Millington Dow was an English operatic soprano and actress of the early twentieth century. After a concert career, she appeared at the Savoy Theatre in the first repertory seasons of Gilbert and Sullivan operas mounted by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1906–09, under the direction of the author. She is remembered as one of the last principal sopranos personally trained by W. S. Gilbert at the Savoy. In between engagements with D'Oyly Carte, Dow performed in concerts and operetta. After her retirement from the professional stage, she directed amateur productions of the Savoy Operas until she was in her seventies.
Julia Goss, was a Scottish singer and actress best known for her performances in the principal soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She joined that company in 1967, remaining with them until 1979.
Anna Bethell was an English actress, singer and stage director. She is best known for her performances in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After playing other small mezzo-soprano parts, she played the role of Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer for many years. She also occasionally played some of the larger contralto roles. She later became stage director of the company from 1947 to 1949 and also directed the J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Company.
Muriel Dickson was a Scottish soprano who was particularly known for her performances in the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. After performing with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for seven years, she sang for four seasons with the Metropolitan Opera and went on to a concert career. In later years, she taught singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and privately.
Lakeshore Light Opera (LLO) is an amateur community theatre group that performs Gilbert and Sullivan operas in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada. The company produced its first show in 1955. Early in its history, the group was directed by former D'Oyly Carte Opera Company member Doris Hemingway, and briefly conducted by her husband, former D'Oyly Carte conductor Harry Norris. The group was known as St Paul's Operatic Society until 1980, when it changed its name to Lakeshore Light Opera. For over 35 years, proceeds from its annual production have been contributed to the Lakeshore General Hospital.
Christene M. Palmer is a retired Australian singer and actress, known for her performances in the contralto roles of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company during the 1960s. Her performance as Katisha in The Mikado is preserved in the D'Oyly Carte 1967 film version of that opera.
Michael Rayner was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Eileen Nora Sharp was an English singer and actress probably best known as the principal mezzo-soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1923 to 1925. For a few years after that, she continued to act in the West End and on tour, but she left the stage after marrying in 1928, making some radio and television appearances in the 1930s.
Jennifer Gay Bishop, known by her stage name Jennifer Toye, was a British operatic soprano best known for performances with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1950s and 1960s, including as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance and Yum-Yum in The Mikado. She later performed in musical theatre and opera with other companies.
Mary Sansom was an English operatic soprano best known for her performances in principal soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1950s and 1960s, including as Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Phyllis in Iolanthe, the title role in Patience and Gianetta in The Gondoliers. In later years, she performed with Gilbert and Sullivan for All, directed stage productions and established a costume hire business. She also appeared in supporting roles on British television.
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