Jennifer Vyvyan
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Vyvyan was a British
classical soprano
who had an active international career in opera
s, concerts, and recitals from 1948 up until her death in 1974. She possessed a beautifully clear, steady voice with considerable flexibility in florid music. She was praised for her subtle phrasing and her dramatic gifts enabled her to create vivid individual portrayals. Although she sang a broad repertoire, she is particularly remembered for her association with the works of Benjamin Britten
; notably singing roles created for her in the world premieres of several of his operas with the English Opera Group
.
On the concert stage, Vyvyan was highly active as an oratorio
singer. The warmth and flexibility of her voice made her an outstanding exponent of the music of Purcell
, Handel
and other baroque composers. She frequently collaborated with the Royal Choral Society
, often under conductor Malcolm Sargent
, and sang countless performances of Messiah throughout Britain and abroad - not least, with the Berlin Philharmonic.
, England
, Vyvyan entered the Royal Academy of Music
in 1941 where she initially was a piano student. She was convinced by a faculty member to pursue a singing career and began her initial studies as a mezzo-soprano
. During her last two and a half years at the conservatory she studied with Roy Henderson who trained her in the soprano repertoire. After graduating in 1947 she went to Milan
for further studies and later studied privately with Fernando Carpi in Geneva in 1950. In 1951 she won the Geneva International Singing Competition.
In 1948 Vyvyan became a member of Benjamin Britten
's English Opera Group
(EOG), making her professional debut with the company as Jenny Diver in the première of Britten's version of John Gay
's The Beggar’s Opera. She appeared in several more roles with the organization over the next two years, including Nancy in Albert Herring
and the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia. In 1951 she created the role of the Matron in the premiere of Brian Easdale
's The Sleeping Children with the EOG in Cheltenham
.
In 1952 Vyvyan joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Sadler's Wells Opera, making a triumphant debut with the company as Konstanze in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
. She returned to that house later in the season to portray Donna Anna in Don Giovanni
. On 8 June 1953 she made her Royal Opera, London
debut as Lady Penelope Rich in the world premiere of Britten's Gloriana
, a production organized by the EOG. She sang in another EOG production for her debut at La Fenice
on 14 September 1954; this time The Governess in the premiere of Britten's The Turn of the Screw
.
Vyvyan sang in many more world premieres during her career, including Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream
(Aldeburgh Festival
, 1960), the Countess de Serindan in Malcolm Williamson
's The Violins of Saint-Jacques (1966, Sadler’s Wells), various roles in Williamson's Lucky-Peter’s Journey (1969, Sadler’s Wells) and Mrs. Julian in Britten’s Owen Wingrave
(1971, BBC television). She also premiered Arthur Bliss's The Beatitudes in the 1962 festival for the opening of Coventry Cathedral, and gave the first UK performance of Britten's Cantata Academica in 1961 as well as the UK premiere of Poulenc's Les Mammelles de Tiresias (Aldeburgh 1958).
In 1953 Vyvyan portrayed Elettra in Idomeneo
at the Glyndebourne Festival. Further opera performances and concerts took her to the stages of Milan, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Paris and Amsterdam. In 1955 she undertook a major tour of the Soviet Union as part of a delegation of British artists organised by Sir Arthur Bliss
. In 1969 she performed at the Lucerne Festival
. She remained a regular presence at the Royal Opera House
as well during the 1950s and 1960s.
On the concert stage, Vyvyan performed throughout Europe and the United States under such conductors as Guilini, Bernstein, Kubelik, Monteux, Ansermet, de Sabata, Krips and Britten, excelling in performances of British music. She also appeared often on the radio and on television, including some of the earliest complete operas broadcast on British TV. She excelled in Handel and played a major role in the revival of his operas/oratorios - with pioneering performances of Athalia, Samson, Amadigi, Rinaldo, Saul, and the first known staging in modern times of Radamisto (Sadlers Wells, 1960). She was also known for her interpretations of the soprano solos in Beethoven
's Symphony No. 9
, Britten's War Requiem
, and Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew Passion.
Having never retired, Vyvyan died from complications of a longstanding bronchial illness on 5 April 1974 at the age of 49.
, as well as his realisations of Purcell's The Fairy-Queen
and Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Her Handel recordings include Semele
, Saul, and two separate recordings of Messiah
; one with conductor Sir Adrian Boult
and the other under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham
. She also collaborated with Beecham and the Royal Choral Society on a recording of Beethoven
's Mass in C
with fellow singers Monica Sinclair
and Marian Nowakowski. Available appearances on film include a DVD of the original TV production of Owen Wingrave
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
classical soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who had an active international career in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, concerts, and recitals from 1948 up until her death in 1974. She possessed a beautifully clear, steady voice with considerable flexibility in florid music. She was praised for her subtle phrasing and her dramatic gifts enabled her to create vivid individual portrayals. Although she sang a broad repertoire, she is particularly remembered for her association with the works of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
; notably singing roles created for her in the world premieres of several of his operas with the English Opera Group
English Opera Group
The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' operatic works. The group later expanded in order to present larger-scale works, and was renamed the English...
.
On the concert stage, Vyvyan was highly active as an oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
singer. The warmth and flexibility of her voice made her an outstanding exponent of the music of Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
, Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
and other baroque composers. She frequently collaborated with the Royal Choral Society
Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...
, often under conductor Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
, and sang countless performances of Messiah throughout Britain and abroad - not least, with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Biography
Born in BroadstairsBroadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Vyvyan entered the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
in 1941 where she initially was a piano student. She was convinced by a faculty member to pursue a singing career and began her initial studies as a mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
. During her last two and a half years at the conservatory she studied with Roy Henderson who trained her in the soprano repertoire. After graduating in 1947 she went to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
for further studies and later studied privately with Fernando Carpi in Geneva in 1950. In 1951 she won the Geneva International Singing Competition.
In 1948 Vyvyan became a member of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's English Opera Group
English Opera Group
The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' operatic works. The group later expanded in order to present larger-scale works, and was renamed the English...
(EOG), making her professional debut with the company as Jenny Diver in the première of Britten's version of John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
's The Beggar’s Opera. She appeared in several more roles with the organization over the next two years, including Nancy in Albert Herring
Albert Herring
Albert Herring, Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten.Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera The Rape of Lucretia...
and the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia. In 1951 she created the role of the Matron in the premiere of Brian Easdale
Brian Easdale
Brian Easdale was a British composer.Easdale was born in Manchester, England. He was educated at Westminster Abbey School and the Royal College of Music....
's The Sleeping Children with the EOG in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
.
In 1952 Vyvyan joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Sadler's Wells Opera, making a triumphant debut with the company as Konstanze in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
. She returned to that house later in the season to portray Donna Anna in Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
. On 8 June 1953 she made her Royal Opera, London
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
debut as Lady Penelope Rich in the world premiere of Britten's Gloriana
Gloriana
Gloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey...
, a production organized by the EOG. She sang in another EOG production for her debut at La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
on 14 September 1954; this time The Governess in the premiere of Britten's The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw (opera)
The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella...
.
Vyvyan sang in many more world premieres during her career, including Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)
A Midsummer Night's Dream is an opera with music by Benjamin Britten and set to a libretto adapted by the composer and Peter Pears from William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream...
(Aldeburgh Festival
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...
, 1960), the Countess de Serindan in Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO , CBE was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death.-Biography:...
's The Violins of Saint-Jacques (1966, Sadler’s Wells), various roles in Williamson's Lucky-Peter’s Journey (1969, Sadler’s Wells) and Mrs. Julian in Britten’s Owen Wingrave
Owen Wingrave
Owen Wingrave is an opera for television in two acts with music by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 85, and a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after a short story by Henry James....
(1971, BBC television). She also premiered Arthur Bliss's The Beatitudes in the 1962 festival for the opening of Coventry Cathedral, and gave the first UK performance of Britten's Cantata Academica in 1961 as well as the UK premiere of Poulenc's Les Mammelles de Tiresias (Aldeburgh 1958).
In 1953 Vyvyan portrayed Elettra in Idomeneo
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
at the Glyndebourne Festival. Further opera performances and concerts took her to the stages of Milan, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Paris and Amsterdam. In 1955 she undertook a major tour of the Soviet Union as part of a delegation of British artists organised by Sir Arthur Bliss
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
. In 1969 she performed at the Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival
- History :The festival was founded in 1938 with a series of concerts in the gardens of Wagner's villa conducted by Arturo Toscanini, who had formed an orchestra with members of different orchestras and soloists for the concert...
. She remained a regular presence at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
as well during the 1950s and 1960s.
On the concert stage, Vyvyan performed throughout Europe and the United States under such conductors as Guilini, Bernstein, Kubelik, Monteux, Ansermet, de Sabata, Krips and Britten, excelling in performances of British music. She also appeared often on the radio and on television, including some of the earliest complete operas broadcast on British TV. She excelled in Handel and played a major role in the revival of his operas/oratorios - with pioneering performances of Athalia, Samson, Amadigi, Rinaldo, Saul, and the first known staging in modern times of Radamisto (Sadlers Wells, 1960). She was also known for her interpretations of the soprano solos in Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
, Britten's War Requiem
War Requiem
The War Requiem, Op. 66 is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed January 1962. Interspersed with the traditional Latin texts, in telling juxtaposition, are settings of Wilfred Owen poems...
, and Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew Passion.
Having never retired, Vyvyan died from complications of a longstanding bronchial illness on 5 April 1974 at the age of 49.
Recordings
Vyvyan can be heard on recordings of Britten's The Turn of the Screw, The Little Sweep, Owen Wingrave, Cantata Academica and Spring SymphonySpring Symphony
The Spring Symphony is Benjamin Britten's Opus 44. It is dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on Thursday 14 July 1949 as part of the Holland Festival, when the composer was 35...
, as well as his realisations of Purcell's The Fairy-Queen
The Fairy-Queen
The Fairy-Queen is a masque or semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's wedding comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell's death at the age...
and Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Her Handel recordings include Semele
Semele
Semele , in Greek mythology, daughter of the Boeotian hero Cadmus and Harmonia, was the mortal mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. In another version of his mythic origin, he is the son of Persephone...
, Saul, and two separate recordings of Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
; one with conductor Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
and the other under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
. She also collaborated with Beecham and the Royal Choral Society on a recording of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Mass in C
Mass in C major (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Mass in C major, Op. 86, to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807. In fulfilling this commission, Beethoven was extending a tradition established by Joseph Haydn, who following his return from England in 1795 had composed one mass per year for the...
with fellow singers Monica Sinclair
Monica Sinclair
Monica Sinclair was a British operatic contralto, who sang many roles with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden during the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared on stage and in recordings with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Malcolm Sargent, and many others...
and Marian Nowakowski. Available appearances on film include a DVD of the original TV production of Owen Wingrave
Sources
- www.jennifervyvyan.org
- D. Brook, Singers of Today (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), 192-194.