Valerie Masterson

Valerie Masterson, born June 3 1937, is a retired English opera singer, a lecturer and Vice-President of British Youth Opera.

Early career and D'Oyly Carte

Margaret Valerie Masterson was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire and studied at the Matthay School of Music in Liverpool and the Royal College of Music. She studied for a year in Milan with the soprano Adelaide Saraceni, but her most important teacher was the tenor Eduardo Asquez. She made her debut as Frasquita in Bizet's "Carmen" in Salzburg with the Landestheatre Opera Company, where she spent a season in 1963.

The following year, after returning to England and giving concerts, including two Promenade Concerts with Sir Malcolm Sargent, she joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a principal soprano in 1964. She remained with D'Oyly Carte for several years, playing roles such as Mabel ("The Pirates of Penzance"), Josephine ("H.M.S. Pinafore"), Phyllis ("Iolanthe"), Elsie Maynard ("The Yeomen of the Guard"), and Casilda ("The Gondoliers"). She appeared in the film version of "The Mikado" as Yum-Yum in 1967. She left the company in 1969 but often returned for guest appearances.

Opera career

Masterson went on to become principal soprano with English National Opera, singing a wide range of roles from Mozart to Wagner and Rossini to Puccini. There followed starring roles at the Royal Opera House, notably as Violetta in "La Traviata", as Cleopatra in "Giulio Cesare" opposite Dame Janet Baker, and in the title role of Handel’s "Semele" at Glyndebourne and, over a career lasting more than 30 years, all the major opera houses around the world. In 1983, Masterson won a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in "Semele" (with The Royal Opera).

Masterson had her greatest successes in the French repertoire, most particularly as Massenet’s "Manon" and in Gounod’s "Faust" and "Romeo and Juliet", singing the lead soprano roles in these works in London, Paris, and many other cities. Masterson also played a significant part in the reintroduction of Handel’s operas to the popular repertoire. In particular, her purity of line and easy facility for ornamentation, coupled with excellent diction, helped to bring to life works which as recently as the 1960s were deemed ‘unperformable’. She also won praise for her roles in many musicals and a wide range of operettas.

As a home-grown British soprano with a charming personality and attractive appearance, Masterson became popular with wider audiences through frequent contributions to the popular radio series "Friday Night is Music Night" and the TV programme "The Good Old Days". There were also television broadcasts of several Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas and live relays from English National Opera.

Retirement

As Vice-President of British Youth Opera, Masterson continues to work with young singers. In 1988, Masterson was made a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours. She was also made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1992.

Masterson also continues to give master-classes and to lecture about singing and her career. She often speaks at the annual International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England. She is married to former D'Oyly Carte principal flautist Andrew March.

Recordings

Among her recordings are a number of Gilbert & Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, including "H.M.S. Pinafore", "The Pirates of Penzance", "The Mikado", and a series of Gilbert and Sullivan videos with the company Gilbert and Sullivan for All. On BBC television, Masterson appeared as Yum-Yum in 1973 and Elsie in 1975. In 1983, she recorded an album of G&S solos and duets with Robert Tear. She sang Josephine, Mabel, Ida, Yum-Yum, and Elsie in the 1989 BBC2 series of the complete Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In 1997 she recorded excerpts from "Ivanhoe", "The Chieftain", "The Beauty Stone", and "The Emerald Isle" with the National Symphony Orchestra for the CD "Sullivan & Co. — The Operas That Got Away." Her voice is heard in the Gilbert and Sullivan songs in the film "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle".

Masterson is heard on a recording in English of "La Traviata" conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, who also conducts Handel's "Julius Caesar" in which Masterson plays Cleopatra opposite Janet Baker's Caesar. The French repertoire is represented by a recital disc: "Valerie Masterson – en Français Airs d’Opéra". In July 1975, Masterson sang Matilde in a complete recording of "Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra" by Rossini, alongside Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras. She is also featured in live recordings of "Faust" (in Philadelphia) and "Mireille".She also recorded Handel's "Messiah" and appeared as Romilda in the DVD reording of Nicholas Hytner's ENO production of Handel's "Xerxes" in 1995, also conducted by Mackerras. Recordings of lighter roles include "The King and I", "Kismet", "Bitter Sweet", and "Song of Norway".

References

*cite book|last=Ayre|first=Leslie|year=1972|title=The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion|location=London|publisher=W.H. Allen & Co Ltd Introduction by Martyn Green.
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/M/MastersonValerie.htm Valerie Masterson] at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
* [http://pinafore.www3.50megs.com/v-masterson.html Profile of Masterson]

External links

*Imdb name|0557765|Valerie Masterson
* [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/artist/art_m.htm#masterson_valerie Information about Masterson's G&S recordings]