Norma Burrowes (born 24 April 1944) is an Irish

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

, particularly associated 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 ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

roles.

Life and career

Born in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a city and seaside resort in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to which it is linked ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, Burrowes studied at

The Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

and then at

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

with Flora Nielsen and Rupert Bruce-Lockhart. She made her professional debut with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera Company, as Zerlina, in 1970."Burrowes, Norma" in ''Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music'' by Michael & Joyce Kennedy. Oxford University Press, 2007. The same year, she made her debut at the

Royal Opera House 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 Op ...

in London, as Fiakermilli, and at the

Glyndebourne Festival 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, ...

, as Papagena. She also sang in various productions with the

English Opera Group The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten (along with John Piper, Eric Crozier and Anne Wood) for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' opera ...

, including

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

's ''

The Fairy-Queen ''The Fairy-Queen'' (1692; Purcell catalogue number Z.629) is a semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. First performed ...

'', ''

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

'', and ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

''.Britten, p. 658 Burrowes joined the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

in 1971, and quickly began to appear on the international scene, notably at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

, the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

, and the

Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumenta ...

. She made her

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

debut in 1979 as Blondchen.Baker's (1997), p.189 She began her career singing mostly

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...

roles, such as

Blonde Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...

, Susanna and Despina; but she gradually expanded to light coloratura parts, such as

Adina ADINA is a commercial engineering simulation software program that is developed and distributed worldwide by ADINA R & D, Inc. The company was founded in 1986 by Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Bathe, and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, United St ...

, Norina,

Marie Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

, Nanetta and Zerbinetta, later adding more lyrical roles such as Pamina, Juliette and

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

. She also excelled in operas by

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest Eng ...

, and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, in which she can be heard on several recordings. From 1969 to 1980 she was married to the conductor

Steuart Bedford Steuart John Rudolf Bedford (31 July 1939 – 15 February 2021) was an English orchestral and opera conductor and pianist. He was the brother of composer David Bedford and of singer Peter Lehmann Bedford and a grandson of Liza Lehmann and Her ...

, with whom she recorded the role of Alison in Holst's ''

The Wandering Scholar ''The Wandering Scholar'', Op. 50 is a chamber opera in one act by the English composer Gustav Holst, composed 1929–30. The libretto, by Clifford Bax, is based on the book ''The Wandering Scholars'' by Helen Waddell. The opera received its ...

''. A singer with a pure and silvery voice, secure coloratura technique and delightful stage presence, Burrowes retired from the stage in 1982. She married former tenor Emile Belcourt, and in 1992 joined him at the University of Saskatoon as a vocal coach.Citron, Paula. "Grand tradition: Emile Belcourt" in ''Opera Canada'', March 22, 200

/ref> In 1994 they resettled with their family in Toronto, where Burrowes is currently a member of the vocal faculty at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Selective discography

*Purcell ''The Fairy Queen'': English Chamber Orchestra/Benjamin Britten; rec. 1970 (Decca) *Vaughan Williams ''The Pilgrim’s Progress'': LPO/Adrian Boult; rec. 1970-71 (EMI) *Holst ''The Wandering Scholar'': English Opera Group/Steuart Bedford; rec. 1974 (EMI) *Purcell ''Dido and Aeneas'': Aldeburgh Festival Strings/Steuart Bedford; rec. 1975 (Decca) *Orff ''Carmina Burana'': Brighton Festival Chorus, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Antal Doráti; rec. 1975 (Decca) *Poulenc ''Gloria'': CBSO/Louis Frémaux; rec. 1976 (EMI) *Fauré ''Requiem'': CBSO/Louis Frémaux; rec. 1977 (EMI) *Handel ''Acis and Galatea'': English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner; rec. 1978 (DG Archiv) *Mozart ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'': The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Sir Colin Davis; rec. 1978 (Philips) *Handel ''Semele'': English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner; rec. 1983 (Erato)

References

Sources

*''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians'', ed. Laura Kuhn. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997. * * ''Grove Music Online'', Elizabeth Forbes, Oxford University Press, 2008. *

External links

Interview with Norma Burrowes
by Bruce Duffie, August 6, 1986 {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrowes, Norma 1944 births 20th-century women singers from Northern Ireland Irish operatic sopranos Living people 20th-century Irish women opera singers York University faculty People from Bangor, County Down Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Musicians from County Down