With one of the most remarkable voices in opera, Welsh operatic dramatic soprano Dame Gwyneth Jones, who is 85 today, gave many of the "bigger" names among Wagnerian divas - like Kirsten Flagstad, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Birgit Nilsson - a run for their money. Having begun her career as a stand-in for the great Leontyne Price, she progressed from operas by the likes of Verdi and Puccini towards more demanding roles in the works of Richard Strauss and Wagner - to huge acclaim.
Here she is in one of her most-remembered performances, the uber-dramatic "Brünnhilde" in Götterdämmerung:
At the height of her powers, she famously undertook the roles of both Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festival in the 1970s, and she has performed all three major female roles in Elektra on stage. As her voice matured, she took fewer of the diva roles and diversified into Lieder, recitals and character parts; she played the role of "Isolde" in the TV drama series about the life of Wagner, and became an adjudicator in the international Cardiff Singer of the World competition for the BBC.
By pure coincidence she shares a birthday with the late, great Dame Joan Sutherland - and here they are together, at the retirement of the opera manager chief executive of the Royal Opera House, David Webster in 1970:
Fairly recently, she played a retired opera singer in the major film Quartet, alongside Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins, Sir Billy Connolly and Sir Michael Gambon, and received many plaudits from the critics for her role. Largely retired from singing, she remains President of the Wagner Society of Great Britain, a role she has held since 1990.
The last word, as always, goes to the Grande Dame herself - making one of the most memorable appearances as "Britannia" at the Last Night of the Proms in 1991:
Many happy returns, Dame Gwyneth Jones DBE (born 7th November 1936)
well...that's a wonderful shift from the usual.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. (No, I am not a great opera lover, but have/had several friends in that stream.)
I would imagine those friends are Dame Gwyneth fans as well! Jx
DeleteWhen she was one of the judges at Cardiff Singer of the World, she arrived at the theatre and pronounced that she required boiled sweets and a lackey was dutifully sent out for some. When the said lackey returned with mint imperials, she was not impressed. She was henceforward known as "Gwyneth Boiled Sweet" after that. A bit of a diva!
ReplyDeleteI shall never think of her again without referring to her as "Gwyneth Boiled Sweet"! How very Under Milk Wood... Jx
DeleteI love the photo where Joan and Gwyneth appear to be sucking the life out of that old bugger. Such quaint customs you blokes have! Or perhaps it's "an opera-thing." I've been to the opera. The openings of several modern ones... where everybody was dressed to the nines. The scores were a bore (The Shining, Dinner At Eight), but the scenery in the lobby? Simply the best. Old dames donning their diamonds. Truly dazzling. Kizzes.
ReplyDeleteOh, for the return of the days of dressing for the opera or the theatre! Nowadays, most people look like they've just popped in on their way back from the supermarket. Jx
DeleteOr rolled out of bed.
DeleteI blame the rise of chavvy "talent shows", that encourage the audience to behave badly. There is a distinct increase in the number of people attending theatre performances who seem to think it's OK to "whoop" rather than applaud, and to clap along with musical numbers like performing seals, let alone their belief that leisure-wear is suitable attire for a theatrical audience.
DeleteI must write a stern letter to Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd-Webber asking them to introduce a dress code.
Jx
Adorable and adored and a brilliant Britannia to boot.
ReplyDelete"Still more majestic shalt thou rise!" Jx
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