Susan Chilcott
Encyclopedia
Susan Chilcott was an English soprano
, considered one of the best of her generation. She died of breast cancer
at the age of 40. She had success in many of the major opera houses around the world and was particularly known for her interpretations of Britten and Janáček
.
, near Bath, England. Her talent was obvious from an early age. She sang in chapels and community halls in the area as well in school assemblies at Writhlington School
, near Bath, which she attended between 1974 and 1979.
At the age of 12 her talent was noted by Mollie Petrie, a singing teacher, who remained with her as a singing coach and advisor for the rest of her career. In 1982, she started studying at the Guildhall School of Music, where her tutor was Noelle Barker.
, in Oviedo
in 1991. In that year she also sang with the Scottish Opera
. The performance which could be described as her major breakthrough, bringing her to the attention of a wider audience, was her interpretation of Ellen Orford in Benjamin Britten
's Peter Grimes
at La Monnaie
in Belgium in 1994. During the next few years, she had huge success in Europe, singing roles from Verdi, Boesman, Dvořák
, Britten and Janáček
. Indeed, her performance in 1999 in Janáček's Katya Kabanova was considered by many critics to be one of her best.
Another highly successful performance was in 2001 at Glyndebourne
as Desdemona
in Sir Peter Hall's production of Otello
. In 2002 she sang opposite Plácido Domingo
in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades
at Covent Garden
. Her last full operatic role was as Jenufa
for Welsh National Opera
in 2003 and for this she received, posthumously, the 2003 Royal Philharmonic Society
Singer Award. Apart from her operatic work, she also gave concerts, often with pianist Iain Burnside
, a close friend, and with him and the actress Fiona Shaw
, gave intimate poetry recitals.
, but recovered sufficiently to return to the stage. In 2003, she relapsed, and died on 4 September 2003, aged 40.
which led to his divorce from Bel Mooney
. Dimbleby lived with and cared for Chilcott for the last four months of her life.
, the President is Jonathan Dimbleby
and the trustees are Dame Josephine Barstow, Iain Burnside
(Chair), Neal Davies, Anthony Freud, Alan Parker
, Ian Rosenblatt, Graham Sheffield and Shaun Woodward
. The scholarship is awarded annually and is administered by the Royal Philharmonic Society
.
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...
, considered one of the best of her generation. She died of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
at the age of 40. She had success in many of the major opera houses around the world and was particularly known for her interpretations of Britten and Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
.
Early life
Susan Chilcott was born in the village of TimsburyTimsbury, Somerset
Timsbury is a village and civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority of the county of Somerset, south-west of Bath England...
, near Bath, England. Her talent was obvious from an early age. She sang in chapels and community halls in the area as well in school assemblies at Writhlington School
Writhlington School
Writhlington School is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–18 in Writhlington, Bath and North East Somerset, England. It has specialist status as a Business and Enterprise College and is the main secondary school in the Radstock area, providing further education to local children and some pupils...
, near Bath, which she attended between 1974 and 1979.
At the age of 12 her talent was noted by Mollie Petrie, a singing teacher, who remained with her as a singing coach and advisor for the rest of her career. In 1982, she started studying at the Guildhall School of Music, where her tutor was Noelle Barker.
Singing career
Her operatic debut was as the First Lady in The Magic FluteThe Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, in Oviedo
Oviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
in 1991. In that year she also sang with the Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
. The performance which could be described as her major breakthrough, bringing her to the attention of a wider audience, was her interpretation of Ellen Orford in 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 Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
at La Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
in Belgium in 1994. During the next few years, she had huge success in Europe, singing roles from Verdi, Boesman, Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Britten and Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
. Indeed, her performance in 1999 in Janáček's Katya Kabanova was considered by many critics to be one of her best.
Another highly successful performance was in 2001 at Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne is a country house, thought to be about six hundred years old, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England. It is also the site of an opera house which, with the exception of its closing during the Second World War, for a few immediate post-war years, and in 1993 during the...
as Desdemona
Desdemona
Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello.Desdemona may also refer to:People* Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
in Sir Peter Hall's production of Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
. In 2002 she sang opposite Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades
The Queen of Spades (opera)
The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. The premiere took place in 1890 in St...
at Covent Garden
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...
. Her last full operatic role was as Jenufa
Jenufa
Jenůfa is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed at the Brno Theater, Brno, 21 January 1904...
for Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
in 2003 and for this she received, posthumously, the 2003 Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
Singer Award. Apart from her operatic work, she also gave concerts, often with pianist Iain Burnside
Iain Burnside
Iain Burnside is a Scottish pianist and presenter on BBC Radio 3.Following study at Oxford University, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy in Warsaw he became a freelance pianist, specialising particularly in song repertoire. He has collaborated with many singers, and was particularly...
, a close friend, and with him and the actress Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
, gave intimate poetry recitals.
Illness and death
In 2001, Chilcott was diagnosed with breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
, but recovered sufficiently to return to the stage. In 2003, she relapsed, and died on 4 September 2003, aged 40.
Family life
Susan Chilcott was raised by adoptive parents. In adulthood, she had a relationship, which produced her only son, Hugh, and later married her agent, David Sigall. She had an affair with Jonathan DimblebyJonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby.-Education:Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse School, a...
which led to his divorce from Bel Mooney
Bel Mooney
Bel Mooney is an English journalist and broadcaster born in Liverpool.-Early life:She was born in Broadgreen Hospital to Gladys Norbury and Edward Mooney. She initially grew up in Liverpool on a council estate called The Green on Queen's Drive...
. Dimbleby lived with and cared for Chilcott for the last four months of her life.
Scholarship
After her death, a scholarship, known as the Susan Chilcott Scholarship, was set up to help aspiring singers with their careers. Its patron is Plácido DomingoPlácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, the President is Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby.-Education:Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse School, a...
and the trustees are Dame Josephine Barstow, Iain Burnside
Iain Burnside
Iain Burnside is a Scottish pianist and presenter on BBC Radio 3.Following study at Oxford University, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy in Warsaw he became a freelance pianist, specialising particularly in song repertoire. He has collaborated with many singers, and was particularly...
(Chair), Neal Davies, Anthony Freud, Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
, Ian Rosenblatt, Graham Sheffield and Shaun Woodward
Shaun Woodward
Shaun Anthony Woodward is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for St Helens South since 2001. He served in the Cabinet from 28 June 2007 to 11 May 2010 as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland...
. The scholarship is awarded annually and is administered by the Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
.