Helen Watts
Welsh contralto
Helen Watts CBE (7 December 1927 – 7 October 2009) was a Welsh contralto . [1]
Early life
Helen Josephine Watts was born in Milford Haven , Pembrokeshire , Wales . Her father was a pharmacist, Tom Watts and moved to live above his shop at 26 Market Street, Haverfordwest , Wales as a child. She was educated at Taskers School for Girls in Haverfordwest, the Abbots Bromley School for Girls , and at the Royal Academy of Music [2] where she was taught voice by Caroline Hatchard . [3]
Career
She began her career with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, and was a regular broadcaster on the Welsh Home Service. She subsequently had a distinguished career as an opera singer. She sang Bach arias at her debut at The Proms , in 1955. She toured the Soviet Union with the English Opera Group in 1964, singing the lead in The Rape of Lucretia . [4] She was also known for her 1969 performances as Mistress Quickly in Verdi's Falstaff with the Welsh National Opera . [1] In 1969, her voice was described by a critic as "not particularly large, but the general purity and warmth of its tone gives it a direct, communicative power. And the singer uses it with taste and imagination." [5]
The many recordings by Helen Watts included a "monumental" edition of forty Bach cantatas, with Helmuth Rilling conducting the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart . She also made several recordings as a soloist in Handel's Messiah , various roles in Wagner's Ring cycle, and an album of Welsh songs with the Treorchy male voice choir. [4]
She was asked to choose her favourite record, book, and luxury as a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 1970. They were:
- favourite track: Betrachte Meine Seele, from the St. John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach; book: Illustrated book on gardening; luxury: Velasquez, The Maids of Honour, ( Las Meninas ) in the Prado. [6]
In 1978, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). [2]
Personal life
Helen Watts married Michael Mitchell, a viola player with the London Symphony Orchestra , in 1980. Mitchell died in 2007. [1] Watts died on 7 October 2009 at the age of 81. [7]
References
- 1 2 3 "Helen Watts obituary in the" . Daily Telegraph. 1 November 2009 . Retrieved 15 November 2009 .
- 1 2 "Helen Watts: fine contralto who enjoyed a long and varied career" . Times Online. 22 October 2009 . Retrieved 15 November 2009 .
- ↑ Obituary for Helen Watts - The Guardian 15 October 2009
- 1 2 Patrick O'Connor, "Helen Watts Obituary" The Guardian (15 October 2009).
- ↑ Raymond C. Ericson, "Welsh Contralto Bows as Soloist" New York Times (7 February 1969): 30.
- ↑ Helen Watts , Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (14 September 1970).
- ↑ Profile , gramophone.co.uk; accessed 12 April 2014.
Literature
- D. Brook, Singers of Today (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), pp. 198–200.
External links
- Helen Watts profile , bach-cantatas.com; accessed 12 April 2014.
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