Ava June

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Ava June (born July 23, 1931 in London ; † February 22, 2013 ibid) was a British opera singer with a soprano voice .

Live and act

Family and education

June was born Ava June Wiggins in Poplar , East London. Her mother was a seamstress ; her father worked in the London Johnnie Walker factory. During the Second World War she was evacuated as part of the Kinderland deportation to Oxfordshire .

She left school at the age of 14 and then worked as a seamstress on the West End musical productions of entertainer and composer Ivor Novello . Novello heard them sing; he urged them to take professional singing lessons. She received singing lessons for the first time at the age of 16. Her first teachers were the South African contralto Kate Opperman and Dame Eva Turner . Later Joan Cross , the leading actress in the operas of Benjamin Britten , had a great influence on her vocal development.

Opera singer at Sadler's Wells Opera

In 1953 she was engaged as a choir player at Sadler's Wells Opera , still as a mezzo-soprano . In 1955 she won the Queen's Prize for young singers. At the urging of her teacher, the baritone Clive Carey, she also tried soprano roles. In the 1957/1958 season, after a change of subject, she was engaged as first soprano at Sadler's Wells Opera. There she made her debut as Leila in the opera Die Perlenfischer . June remained a member of Sadler's Wells Opera until 1963. In 1963, although already successful as an opera singer, she traveled to Sofia with the tenor Alberto Remedios . There she won a gold medal at the International Singing Competition for Young Singers. In 1970 she returned to Sadler's Wells Opera at the London Coliseum; there she remained a permanent member of the ensemble until 1983. In 1984 she gave up her singing career.

June sang a broad repertoire on the stage of Sadler's Wells Opera, since 1974 English National Opera (ENO), including roles in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Ludwig van Beethoven , the Italian repertoire, the main works by Benjamin Britten and roles from the field the modern included.

Her main roles included Ilia in Idomeneo (1964; alternating with Anne Evans ), the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro (1965; conductor: Charles Mackerras ), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (with Raimund Herincx as a partner), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (1969; directed by John Blatchley; conductor: Charles Mackerras), Marzelline (1959/1960) and Leonore in Fidelio (with Alberto Remedios as Florestan), Agathe in Der Freischütz (1963), Violetta in La traviata (1962), Marguerite in Faust , Marie in The Bartered Bride (1962), Micaëla in Carmen (1962), Mimì and Musette (1957) in La Bohème , the title roles in Madama Butterfly and Tosca (1977), Sieglinde in Die Walküre (February 1970 and July / August 1973, in the English version of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen under the musical direction of Reginald Goodall ), Gutrune in Götterdämmerung , Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Tatjana in Eugen Onegin (1961), Lisa in Pique Dame (1966), Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier (1976; Reg ie: John Copley, conductor: Charles Mackerras), the title role in Salome (1976; June danced the dance of the seven veils herself and took off her clothes.), The title role in Katja Kabanova (1977; conductor: Charles Mackerras), Judith in Bluebeard's Castle (1972; with David Ward as a partner) and Magda Sorel in Der Konsul (1957). Later she also took on character roles such as Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande and Berta / Marzelline in The Barber of Seville .

June was a major interpreter of the female roles in Benjamin Britten's operas: Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes , Elizabeth in Gloriana , Lady Billows in Albert Herring, and Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw .

In 1974 she sang at the ENO alongside Dame Janet Baker (in the title role) the role of Elizabeth I in the opera Maria Stuarda ; Charles Mackerras was the conductor. In 1981 she took on the role of Countess Vronskaya in the world premiere of Iain Hamilton's opera Anna Karenina at ENO .

Covent Garden Opera and guest performances

In 1958 June made her debut at Covent Garden Opera in London as Voice from Heaven in Verdi's opera Don Carlos . The production was by Luchino Visconti ; The conductor was Carlo Maria Giulini . In 1958 the First Lady followed in the opera Die Zauberflöte . She appeared there again and again in the years that followed, often in Wagner roles, such as Freia in Das Rheingold in 1974 and Gerhilde in Die Walküre under the musical direction of Sir Georg Solti . In 1970 she sang the role of Mrs Schomberg in the world premiere of Richard Rodney Bennett's opera Victory . In 1983 she last appeared at the Covent Garden Opera, in a small role in the opera Der Rosenkavalier .

In 1960 she sang the role of Abigaille in the opera Nabucco , in concert performances in Edinburgh and Glasgow , with the Scottish National Orchestra , under the musical direction of Sir Alexander Gibson . At the Scottish Opera she sang Donna Elvira in 1965 in a production under the musical direction of Sir Alexander Gibson. Her partners were Ian Wallace (as Leporello), Donald McIntyre (as Commander) and Margaret Price (as Zerlina).

She appeared at the Phoenix Opera (1969 as Countess in Le nozze di Figaro ), the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff (Violetta in La Traviata in 1968) and at the San Francisco Opera ; there she made her debut in 1974 as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes . She sang this role in 1975 with Opera North in Leeds . She has made guest appearances at the Volksoper Vienna , the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg , the Deutsche Oper Berlin , the Grand Opéra Paris , the National Opera Sofia and the National Opera Zagreb.

Later career

After she left the stage, she taught and worked as a coach for younger singers at ENO. She has given master classes at the Wagner Society and the National Opera Studio . She has taught at Morley College , the Royal College of Music , Trinity College of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama . In 1985 she became professor of singing at the Royal Northern College of Music , Manchester ; she held the professorship for 14 years. She was considered a popular and valued teacher.

June also worked as an opera director. She has directed Roméo et Juliette , La Traviata and Nabucco for the Wilmslow Opera in Cheshire and Die Fledermaus for the Carl Rosa Opera Company , among others . She later directed a choir at the University of the Third Age at Twickenham .

Audio documents

For the record , June took on the role of Mrs. Grose in Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw , under the musical direction of Sir Colin Davis . The recording was released by Philips in 1981 . In live recordings from Sadler's Wells Opera she can be heard in excerpts as Violetta in La Traviata and as Marie in The Bartered Bride . She can also be heard as Sieglinde in a live recording of the opera Die Walküre under Reginald Goodall. The recording was made in 1973.

Private

Ava June had been married to David Cooper, a utility engineer, since the early 1950s. He died in 1982. The marriage remained childless. After the death of her husband, she became an active member of the London Spiritual Mission at Notting Hill Gate, where she also appeared as a soloist.

June was a stamp collector and kept pedigree cats for many years .

June died at the age of 81 in the London borough of Twickenham, south-west London.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Ava June obituary in: The Daily Telegraph, March 17, 2013
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Ava June obituary Obituary in: The Guardian, March 5, 2013
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Obituary: Ava June, soprano obituary in: The Scotsman of March 11, 2013
  4. ^ Don Giovanni 1965 cast in Opera Scotland
personal data
SURNAME June, Ava
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wiggins, Ava June (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 2013
Place of death London