My father's favourite Gilbert and Sullivan singer and her singing was hear at his funeral so nice to hear her speaking about her singing at the Colliseum.
Valerie Masterson is still much missed as a performer at the ENO. Other sopranos have wonderful qualities , but do any of them possess the special combination of vocal and stage charisma that made audiences fall in love with Valerie? Over a wide range of roles she was unique.
Never had the privilege of meeting her but my favorite aunt was wardrobe mistress with the Birkenhead Amateur OperatIc Society in the post war years , where in the mid fifties Valéry Masterson cut her teeth; if I’m not mistaken, she was called Margaret then. It got lost in many house moves, but a prised possession was an autographed programme of a recital she gave at the town hall in the late seventies.Many years in Whitehall were enlightened by seeing her perform at ROH and the Coliseum.She never gave a less than beautiful performance; if I could take but three to my desert island, Cleopatra, Constanza and der Rosenkavalier. She was unquestionably a world class soprano of the twentieth century.
How wonderful to see and hear this update from Valerie Masterson - one of ENO's greats, still enjoying life and opera. More of this please. But oh dear, how disrespectful can you get ENO? Masterson made so many great recordings, and what do you use as the accompaniment to this film, to illustrate her art? "Ombra Mai Fu" from Handel's Xerxes, sung by *Della Jones*. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9aVd4u-bF7A.html Masterson sang in the ENO Xerxes, true (though not the character of Xerxes, who sings this aria). Her filmed performance in that opera is a delight - especially "Sweet from the Mountains". Her Cleopatra too is superb, as is her Glyndebourne Constanze (which would have made a truly appropriate accompaniment for this film, given she describes the role as a big break). There are dozens more performances OF HER which would have been much appropriate than a performance by someone else. Anyway, if anyone wants to hear Valerie Masterson at ENO, I would recommend this 1985 performance of Charpentier's "Depuis le Jour". ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mVjMZR7zP5Q.html
