April Cantelo
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April Rosemary Cantelo (2 April 1928 – 16 July 2024) was an English soprano. She created roles in operas by major composers, including the title role of ''
Semele Semele (; ), or Thyone (; ) in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia (Greek goddess), Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele ...
'' by John Eccles, Helena in Britten's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'', and in several works by Malcolm Williamson such as '' English Eccentrics''.


Life and career

April Rosemary Cantelo was born in Purbrook,
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, on 2 April 1928, to Herbert Cantelo, an amateur cellist, and Marie, his wife, née Abraham. She attended Chelmsford County High School for Girls. She sang in a church choir and played the piano, taking lessons at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
in London. In 1947 she performed Bach arias with the Chelmsford Festival Orchestra. Cantelo had an ambition to be a medical researcher, but followed the suggestion of an audition for the
Dartington Hall Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as ...
arts college, which came with six months of vocal education, with Imogen Holst, among others. Cantelo was soon accepted to the National Opera Studio in London where she studied with
Vilém Tauský Vilém Tauský CBE (20 July 1910, Přerov, Moravia – 16 March 2004, London) was a Czech conductor and composer who, from the advent of the Second World War, lived and worked in the UK, one of a significant group of émigré composers and musici ...
and
Joan Cross Joan Cross CBE (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 ...
. She sang in the Glyndebourne Chorus, with the New English Singers and with the Deller Consort.


Opera

Cantelo made her solo debut in 1950, with the Glyndebourne Company at the
Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
as Echo in ''
Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...
'' by Richard Strauss, then also Barbarina in Mozart's ''
Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...
''. Blyth, A. April Cantelo. In: ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
She performed 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, e ...
the following year as Barbarina, and in 1953 as Echo and as Blonde in Mozart's ''
Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...
'', and again in 1963 as Marzelline in Beethoven's ''
Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...
''. She played Rosetta in '' Love in a Village'', the pasticcio by
Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song " A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', w ...
, at the
Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...
in June 1952. In the first half of the 1950s she appeared at the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
, in a small role in Mozart's ''
The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...
'', as Barbarina, Countess Ceprano in Verdi's ''
Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' and as Poussette in Massenet's ''
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 f ...
''. Cantelo performed in the British premieres of Hans Werner Henze's ''
Boulevard Solitude ' is a ' (lyric drama) or opera in one act by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Grete Weil after the play by Walter Jockisch, in its turn a modern retelling of Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel '' Manon Lescaut''. The piece is a reworking of ...
'' (as Manon Lescaut) in 1962 and of Kurt Weill's '' Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (as Jenny) at the Sadler's Wells Opera in 1963. She appeared in the world premiere of Malcolm Williamson's '' English Eccentrics'' in 1964, as Miss Beswick. Among the other roles she created were: * Susan in ''
A Dinner Engagement ''A Dinner Engagement'' is a one-act comic opera by Lennox Berkeley, (his opus number, Op. 45) to a libretto by Paul Dehn. The opera was written for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group. It premiered at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, in ...
'' (Lennox Berkeley, 1954, Aldeburgh) * Orpah in '' Ruth'' (Berkeley, 1956, Scala Theatre, London) * Helena in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'' (Britten, 1960, Aldeburgh) * Beatrice Weston in ''
Our Man in Havana ''Our Man in Havana'' (1958) is a novel set in Cuba by the British author Graham Greene. Greene uses the novel to mock intelligence services, especially the British MI6, and their willingness to believe reports from their local informants. Th ...
'' (Williamson, 1963, Sadler's Wells) * Swallow in ''The Happy Prince'' (Williamson, 1965, Farnham Parish church) * Ann in ''Julius Caesar Jones'' (Williamson, 1966) * Berthe in '' The Violins of Saint-Jacques'' (Williamson, 1966, Sadler's Wells) * Semele in ''
Semele Semele (; ), or Thyone (; ) in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia (Greek goddess), Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele ...
'' (John Eccles, 1972,
St John's, Smith Square Smith Square Hall (formerly St John's Smith Square) is a concert hall in the centre of Smith Square, City of Westminster, Westminster, London. Its name was changed by its current operator, Sinfonia Smith Square, in 2024. Originally a church, ...
, London). In 1974 Cantelo appeared as Xantippe in the first professional UK production of Telemann's '' Der geduldige Socrates'', for Kent Opera.


Concert

April Cantelo made ten appearances at the Proms between 1958 and 1973, beginning with the first performance of Carl Orff's ''
Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...
'' conducted by Basil Cameron. She sang in Vaughan Williams's '' Pastoral Symphony'', in Berlioz's '' Les nuits d'été'', and a vocal suite from Williamson's ''Our Man in Havana''. She performed there also in Purcell's '' The Indian Queen'', Cavalli's Messa concertata, excerpts from
Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considere ...
operas, Purcell odes and Haydn's '' Nelson Mass''. Cantelo took part in the inaugural concert of the
Purcell Room The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Purcell Ro ...
in London on 3 March 1967 ('Homage to Henry Purcell') with Robert Tear, Raymond Leppard and Bernard Richards.


Australia and New Zealand, teaching

In the 1970s Cantelo was often active in Australia, performing in operas by Williamson. She was a visiting lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Cantelo directed a production of Purcell'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 in ...
'' in New Zealand in 1972. In 1979, Cantelo and the conductor Roger Smith founded the Highnam Court Project, to restore a 17th-century mansion which had belonged to
Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...
's family, and use it for a foundation for the arts. Her private pupils included Rosemary Joshua. She coached generations of singers in vocal technique, guided their repertoire and encouraged them with "helpful but honest advice".


Voice

Grove describes her voice as "a pure, clear lyrical soprano, not large, but capable of flexibility and variety of expression", calling her "a very gifted singing actress".


Personal life

Cantelo met
Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom ...
in Glyndebourne in 1948, where the future conductor played clarinet in the orchestra. They were married in 1949. In their first years, called by her an "amateur wilderness", she was the breadwinner in the family. They had two children, Suzanne and Christopher. Davis achieved the post of assistant conductor to the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...
in 1957. The marriage was dissolved in 1964 after he fell in love with their ''
au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...
'' Ashraf Naini, a young Iranian woman who was visiting London at the time, and who became his second wife. In retirement, Cantelo settled in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
. She trained an amateur choir, All Saints Singers at Sutton Courtenay, and invited former colleagues to sing solos in Masses by Haydn, Bach's Passions and oratorios by Telemann. Cantelo died on 16 July 2024, at the age of 96.


Recordings

Cantelo recorded a wide repertoire. Among baroque works, she recorded Charpentier's '' Messe de minuit pour Noël'' with the
Choir of King's College, Cambridge The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is an English Anglican choir. It was created by Henry VI of England, King Henry VI, who founded King's College, Cambridge, in 1441, to provide daily singing in his King's College Chapel, Cambridge, Chapel, ...
under
David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridg ...
(for
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
), Handel's ''
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
'' conducted by Walter Susskind (Pye Golden Guinea), Purcell's '' The Indian Queen'' under
Charles Mackerras Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...
(L'oiseau-Lyre, 1966), Purcell's '' Hail! Bright Cecilia'' conducted by
Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as o ...
(Vanguard), and Handel and Blow anthems as well as Handel's '' Ode for St. Cecilia's Day'' conducted by David Willcocks (Argo, 1968). She recorded a solo recital program of 14 songs from the eighteenth century by various composers, all using lyrics by
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, with Raymond Leppard conducting the
English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...
(L'oiseau-Lyre).Burgdörfer, Maximilian
Eighteenth-Century Shakespearean Songs
musicweb-international.com February 2018
In classical and romantic music, she sang Servilia in the English-language performance of Mozart's ''
La clemenza di Tito (''The Clemency of Titus''), K. 621, is an ''opera seria'' in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. Mozart completed the work in the midst of composing ''Die Zauberfl ...
'' under John Pritchard, deputising for the indisposed Jennifer Vyvyan (Nimbus Prima Voce). She was the soloist in three Haydn Masses with St. John's College, Cambridge, forces and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under George Guest (Argo). She recorded part songs by
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
(Argo, 1967), the roles of Candida and Bettina in Donizetti's ''
Emilia di Liverpool ''Emilia di Liverpool'' (''Emilia of Liverpool''; also given as ''L'eremitaggio di Liverpool'') is a ''dramma semiserio'', ("half-serious") dramatic opera, in two acts with music by Gaetano Donizetti. wrote the Italian libretto after the anonym ...
'' alongside
Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s to the 1980s. She possessed a voice ...
(BBC/Myto), Héro in '' Béatrice et Bénédict'' by Berlioz, conducted by Colin Davis, and
mélodie A ''mélodie'' () is a form of French art song, arising in the mid-19th century. It is comparable to the German '' Lied''. A ''chanson'', by contrast, is a folk or popular French song. The literal meaning of the word in the French language is " ...
s by him (Philips), Celia in Sullivan's ''
Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...
'' under Sir
Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
(HMV), and Solveig songs from Grieg's ''
Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five-Act (drama), act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays. ''Peer Gynt'' chronicles the journey of its title character fr ...
'' with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Gibson (World Record Club). Her recordings of music from the 20th century include excerpts from ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', her stage debut, conducted by Sir
Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...
in Edinburgh in 1950 (Beecham Society WSA). She recorded roles by Britten with the composer conducting, Juliet in '' The Little Sweep'' (Decca, 1954) and Miss Wordsworth in ''
Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera '' The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Cro ...
'' (Decca, 1964). She recorded music by Williamson, the Swallow in ''The Happy Prince'' (Argo, 1965), Ann in ''Julius Caesar Jones'' (Argo, 1967) and also vocal works by him and Hugh Wood (Argo).Stuart, Philip
Decca Discography 1929–2009
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...
BBC studio recordings of Wagner's '' Die Feen'' (Ada) and '' Das Liebesverbot'' (Isabella) have subsequently been issued commercially by
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. She recorded ''Metamorphosis on a Bed-time Theme'' by Alistair Sampson and Joseph Horovitz at the 1958 Hoffnung Music Festival, and the role of Dracula's daughter in ''Horrortorio'' at the 1961 Hoffnung Festival.Booklet notes accompanying CD CMS 7 63302-2, 1989. She also recorded the well-loved '' Holly and the Ivy'' LP with
Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...
and the Deller Consort. For the sound track of the film '' The Music Lovers'' (recorded in 1969), Cantelo sang part of the letter scene from Tchaikovsky's ''
Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (, Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: Евгеній Онѣгинъ, романъ въ стихахъ, ) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. ''Onegin'' is considered a classic of ...
''.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantelo, April 1928 births 2024 deaths English operatic sopranos People from Purbrook 20th-century British women opera singers Musicians from Hampshire