Sylvia Fisher | |
|---|---|
 Fisher in 1936 | |
| Born | Sylvia Gwendoline Victoria Fisher (1910-04-18)18 April 1910 South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 26 August 1996(1996-08-26) (aged 86) Toorak, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation | Opera singer (soprano) |
| Years active | 1932–1973 |
| Employer(s) | The Royal Opera Sadler's Wells Opera Company |
| Spouse | |
Sylvia Gwendoline Victoria FisherAM (18 April 1910 – 25 August 1996)[1] was an Australian operaticsoprano whose stage career was made inEngland, who was especially distinguished in German opera, and who created the role of Miss Wingrave in Benjamin Britten'sOwen Wingrave in 1971. Fisher was made aMember of the Order of Australia in the1994 Australia Day Honours, for "service to the arts, particularly opera".[2]
Fisher was born in a private hospital inSouth Melbourne on 18 April 1910[3] to John and Margaret Maria Fisher (née Frawley).[4]
She studied the piano from the age of nine, and afterwards entered theAlbert Street Conservatorium for singing and voice production and obtained the full diploma. When this was completed she continued her singing studies withAdolf Spivakovsky, and worked with him for many years.[5] She made her debut as a student inLully'sCadmus et Hermione at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, on 5 March 1932, at the Lully Tercentenary Festival. This was her only stage appearance in opera in Australia, but she rapidly became well known there as a concert artist and broadcaster.[6]
Her concert and broadcast repertoire included many operatic arias, and she sang in many broadcasts of complete operas, notably in the title role ofVerdi'sAida, as Donna Anna (Mozart'sDon Giovanni) and as Ortrud (Wagner'sLohengrin). She also established herself as a fine lieder and oratorio singer in Australia.[7]
It was as an established singer, therefore, that she went toEngland in 1947, and was first heard there in lieder recitals inBBC broadcasts. She joined theCovent Garden resident company in 1948 and rapidly gained approval. Her debut there was as Leonore (Beethoven'sFidelio), after which she appeared in several smaller parts such as the First Norn (Götterdämmerung) and the First Lady (The Magic Flute). She soon became the company's leading dramatic soprano. In 1949 she made a further powerful impression with her Countess inThe Marriage of Figaro and her Elsa inLohengrin, and also made her first and highly successful appearance in a role thereafter much identified with her, as the Marschallin inRichard Strauss'sDer Rosenkavalier.[7]
Soon afterwards, she undertook further Wagnerian roles, in which she was to become especially famous. Her Sieglinde (Die Walküre), often performed oppositeKirsten Flagstad's Brünnhilde, won its own individual triumph, and resulted in an invitation to appear as a guest artist in theRome Opera International season, where she made her debut as Sieglinde in March 1952 underErich Kleiber, and sang the role several times during the season. In London with equal success she sang the roles of Senta (The Flying Dutchman) and Gutrune (Götterdämmerung),[7] and on 9 January 1953 was Isolde in the great Covent Garden revival ofTristan und Isolde.[8]
In March 1954, Fisher married Ubaldo Gardini, an Italian-born violinist who worked at Covent Garden as an Italian language coach. Their marriage would later end in divorce.[6]
In 1956, she was the Kostelnicka in the new Covent Garden production ofJanáček'sJenůfa, a role she sang with distinction for over 20 years. After one magnificent performance in the early 1970s she took over 20 curtain calls.[citation needed]
In 1958, Fisher left Covent Garden after a dispute with directorRafael Kubelík. She visited Australia, performed in the United States, then returned to England where she worked for Covent Garden's rival, theSadler's Wells Opera Company from 1962 to 1973.[6]
She also appeared as soloist with the leading choral societies and orchestras, and at music festivals, under the batons of SirThomas Beecham, SirJohn Barbirolli and SirMalcolm Sargent.[6] By 1955 she had made appearances in Beethoven'sMissa Solemnis andChoral Symphony, Verdi'sRequiem,Delius'sMass of Life,Rossini'sStabat Mater,Arnold Schoenberg'sGurre-Lieder (Tove), and the concert performance ofPaul Hindemith'sMathis der Maler.[9]
In 1971, she created the role of the formidable Miss Wingrave inBenjamin Britten'sOwen Wingrave, oppositeBenjamin Luxon,Janet Baker,Heather Harper andPeter Pears. That performance is available on compact disc and DVD.
