Margaret Curphey, who has died aged 86, was a member of the corporate of singers that below the inspirational course of Reginald Goodall gave the world a sequence of Wagner performances acclaimed as a landmark in British operatic historical past. The English-language recordings of her as Sieglinde and Gutrune within the Ring, and as an beautiful Eva in The Mastersingers – demonstrating a peerless understanding of the fusion of textual content and music on the coronary heart of Wagner’s artwork – are adequate to ensure her place alongside Rita Hunter, Alberto Remedios and Norman Bailey in that mission. Nonetheless, she by no means made the large breakthrough in profession phrases that her vocal skills deserved.
The authority of her singing all through the vary, however with a specifically radiant high, along with the nuanced deployment of tonal colouring, have been indispensable property in these roles, cultivated over an prolonged time frame in Valhalla, as Goodall’s rehearsal eyrie below the roof of Covent Backyard was recognized. She additionally sang Elsa in Lohengrin – the sheer great thing about sound within the Act III love duet with Remedios has arguably by no means been surpassed – however her vocal amplitude and skill to mission enabled her so as to add the heavier a part of Brünnhilde to her different Ring roles, at Goodall’s instigation, singing it in London and subsequently Seattle, Santiago di Chile and Gothenberg.
She was a principal for 13 years, beginning at Sadler’s Wells in 1965, and transferring on with the corporate to the London Coliseum in 1968; it turned English Nationwide Opera in 1974. Her first position with the corporate was as Micaële (Carmen), a component to which she was capable of convey each the notion of vulnerability and the inside power for the climactic outbursts.
By the late Sixties she was beginning to get extremely beneficial opinions in such roles as Pamina (Magic Flute), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana) and the Countess (Marriage of Figaro). Different roles included each Mimì and Musetta in La Bohème, Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes), Ninetta (The Thieving Magpie), Violetta (La Traviata) and Leonora (Il Trovatore).
Goodall invited her to sing Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) in a manufacturing for Welsh Nationwide Opera he was to conduct in 1979. Right now, nevertheless, Curphey was present process surgical procedure for an arthritic hip (the consequence of a severe damage sustained in a faculty playground accident when she was 12). Not sure whether or not she could be absolutely recovered in time, Goodall turned to Linda Esther Grey, who had been employed as Brangäne for the manufacturing, however was additionally singing Isolde for him at ENO kind of coterminously. It was agreed that Grey would sing the primary 5 performances in Cardiff, leaving Curphey to take over for the rest, however she was not effectively sufficient to take action and was changed by Anna Inexperienced.
Curphey returned to her native Isle of Man as a everlasting resident in 1980 however tried a comeback to the stage in 1981, returning to sing three roles for Opera North: Yaroslavna (Prince Igor), Agathe (Der Freischütz) and Reiza in a live performance efficiency of Oberon, broadcast by the BBC. She additionally sang the Verdi Requiem in Coventry Cathedral, the Royal Albert Corridor and the Royal Competition Corridor, toured to Singapore and Reykjavik to carry out in live shows and sang Miss Jessel (Flip of the Screw) in Geneva. Her compromised mobility, nevertheless, precluded a full return to the stage.
Born in Douglas, Isle of Man, Margaret was the daughter of Mary (nee Gelling) and William Curphey, a police sergeant and later inspector of the Harbour Police. Each have been novice singers, as have been Margaret’s twin sisters Muriel and Christine. (A youthful sister joined the Lancashire police power.) Margaret studied with John Carol Case and David Galliver on the Birmingham Faculty of Music, then toured with the Arts Council’s Opera for All (1963 season) earlier than becoming a member of the Glyndebourne refrain (1964–65), at one level understudying Montserrat Caballé.
Then arrived the contract as principal artist for Sadler’s Wells Opera, although for a quick interval in 1967 she additionally sang with Scottish Opera. In the identical yr, she sang within the UK premiere of Mozart’s Lucio Silla on the Camden competition.
She retired in 1994 following a farewell live performance at Erin Arts Centre with Remedios and her husband Philip Summerscales, a businessman and baritone. She was extremely esteemed by colleagues for her generosity and heat each on and off the stage and continued to assist creative exercise on her native island.
She is survived by Philip, whom she married in 1967, and their daughter, Helen.
