Jeannette Sinclair (born 1928) is an English soprano. She sang a variety of roles as a principal soprano at the

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) 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. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

and at

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

, during the 1950s and 1960s. Her work for the BBC encompassed opera, oratorio and many recitals of lieder, English song and French chanson, light music and appearances at the BBC Henry Wood Promenade concerts, 1960–9.

Life and career

Born in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

, London, UK on 11 April 1928, Jeannette Sinclair attended Mary Datchelor Girls' School. She studied at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

and later at the Opera School with

Joan Cross Joan Cross (7 September 1900 – 12 December 1993) was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on ...

and privately with Helene Isepp. Jeannette Sinclair made her debut in 1954 with

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

as Cherubino in ''Le nozze di Figaro''. Her Glyndebourne debut followed in 1955 as Barbarina in the

Gui The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

/Ebert production of ''Le nozze di Figaro''. As a Principal

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

at Covent Garden 1954–66, her roles included: Micaela (cond. Gibson); Susanna (cond.

Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

); Zerlina ( Kempe); Marzelline (''Fidelio'' cond. Klemperer,

Leitner Leitner is an Austrian-German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan Leitner (born 1947), American artist * Aloysius Leitner, United States Marine Corps *Anton G. Leitner (born 1961), German writer and publisher *Dummy Leitner (18 ...

); Annchen (''Der Freischütz'' cond. Kempe); Helena (''Midsummer Night's Dream'',

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

); Bella (''Midsummer Marriage'', Tippett); Sister Constance (''Dialogue of the Carmelites'',

Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

, cond. Kubelik). Appearances with other companies included Mimi (''La Bohème'') for Welsh National Opera, Handel's ''Susanna'' at the

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

Festival with

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

Opera and Eurydice in

Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

's ''The Sorrows of Orpheus'' at the Camden Festival. She sang Belinda in ''Dido and Aeneas'' conducted by Britten, both at

Drottningholm Palace The Drottningholm Palace ( sv, Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Drottningholm is near the capital Stockholm. Built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), it is one of Swede ...

in 1962 and in the later BBC recording. BBC Studio opera broadcasts included ''Beatrice and Benedict'', Berlioz; ''Fenemore and Gerda'',

Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

; ''Hugh the Drover'',

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

; ''Die Abreise'', D'Albert. Performances of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

included ''HMS Pinafore'' and, ''The Sorcerer''. BBC Television appearances included Anne Page in the ''Merry Wives of Windsor'' and Nella in ''Gianni Schicchi'' with

Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's ''La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major opera ...

Premieres

Sister Constance in the British premiere of ''

The Dialogues of the Carmelites ' (''Dialogues of the Carmelites''), FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. The composer's second opera, Poulenc wrote the ...

'', Covent Garden, 1958, in the presence of François Poulenc. World premiere of ''Scenes from Comus'', Op 6,

Hugh Wood Hugh Wood (27 June 1932 – 14 August 2021) was a British composer. Biography Wood was born in Parbold, Lancashire and grew up in a musical family; while still a teenager, he was encouraged by the composer Alan Bush. He says that his "earlies ...

, BBC Promenade Concert, 2 August 1965. BBC Promenade Concerts premieres of ''Midsummer Marriage'', Tippett, 7 August 1963; ''Dixit Dominus'' HWV 232, Handel, 18 September 1964; ''Moses und Aron'', Schoenberg, 19 July 1965.

Recordings

*''Don Carlos'' Giulini, Solti *''Marriage of Figaro'', Gui *''Comte d'Ory'', Gui *''Siegfried'', Kempe *''Dido and Aeneas'', Britten * various Gilbert and Sullivan, Sargent

Private life

Jeannette Sinclair married a chartered electrical engineer in 1954, with whom she had one son and one daughter; she has three grandchildren.

References

*''Oxford Dictionary of Music'' 2nd ed. 1994. *''The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Music'' *'Francis Poulenc' Benjamin Ivry Phaidon 1996 *Leo Black 'BBC Music in the Glock Era and After: a Memoir' Plumbago 2010 *BBC Promenade Concert programmes, 1960–65 *Royal Opera House programmes *http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/SearchResults.aspx?searchtype=performance&page=0&keyword=Jeannette%20Sinclair *http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Name/Jeanette-Sinclair/Performer/24615-2 *https://web.archive.org/web/20110718183126/http://www.testament.co.uk/shop/product/sbt41455.aspx *http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/April%201999/106/854313/ *http://www.naxos.com/person/Jeannette_Sinclair/52368.htm *http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/performance_find.shtml?tab=search&sub_tab=artist&artist_id=4903&from=1959&to=1970 *http://www.brittenpears.org/?id=394&page=research/catalogue/detail.html *http://www.operascotland.org/tour/420/Iphigénie-en-Tauride-1961 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Jeannette 1928 births 20th-century British women opera singers English operatic sopranos People educated at Mary Datchelor School Musicians from Camberwell Living people