"I have to be seen to be believed"

[click any photo to enlarge]

The sumptuous exhibition Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, that we went to see with our mother on Saturday was everything one could have asked for, and more.

Frocks and outfits that traced the life of the late, dearly departed Queen - from her childhood and teenage years to debutante, to her marriage [gown #3, above], accession [Coronation dress, #4 above], through all stages of her long reign, formal and informal, from the most sparkling ballgowns and outfits from her myriad Royal tours and Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees, to the headscarf-and-tweeds she wore on her estates, right through to her latter "Rainbow Queen" years with her famous bright coordinated single-colour outfits ["I have to be seen to be believed", was her quote] - everything was on display [in the relatively small series of rooms that comprise The King's Gallery at the rear of Buckingham Palace]!

..and then there were the tiaras!

It was a fantastic exhibition! What an indelible legacy HM The Queen left us...

Surprising, indeed

Scanning the "hatched, matched and despatched" columns (as is my wont), I came across the name Michael Aspinall above], which I was sure I knew from somewhere. His meagre three-paragraph Wikipedia bio was hardly illuminating, either [musicologist, teacher, scholar, all very dry] - until I spotted a citation...

...from (the sadly now no longer updated) oracle Queer Music Heritage, and the penny dropped.

He was indeed everything that Wikipedia said he was - and such an expert in operatic musical styles that even Montserrat Caballe sought his guidance on finessing the bel canto mezzo roles for which she became known - but it was as a performer, imitating and sending-up the divas of opera, dressed in drag, that Mr Aspinall became famous!

As "The Surprising Soprano", he carved an international career as an opera parodist, using his falsetto range to delight audiences with his impressions. As the LA Times said of him: "It is a brave voice, however, a voice that dares awaken the ghosts of Adelina Patti, Pauline Viardot Garcia, Maria Malibran, Jenny Lind, Amelita Galli-Curci, Fritzi Scheff, Conchita Supervia, Maria Callas and Luisa Tetrazzini.", even if, as its critic continues, "Unfortunately, Aspinall often conjures up unintended images: ...Florence Foster Jenkins, Beatrice Lillie... Mae West..." Regardless, even Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge were fans.

And thus, the reason for knowing his name became clear - we (of course) have his album [as pictured above] in our collection here at Dolores Delargo Towers!

So, for your delectation...

Michael Aspinall, The Surprising Soprano - Der Erlkönig [Schubert]

Michael Aspinall, The Surprising Soprano - Sempre libera [Verdi: La Traviata]

Michael Aspinall, The Surprising Soprano - There are Fairies at the Bottom of Our Garden

RIP, Michael Aspinall (31st October 1939 – 10th July 2026)