Leila Megàne (5 April 1891 – 2 January 1960) was a Welsh

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

.Obituary The Times, Monday, 4 January 1960 Born Margaret Jones in Bethesda,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, she married T. Osborne Roberts (1879–1948), a composer. She spent a career touring numerous cities in Europe and once in New York.

Career

During her career the future Leila Megane would start music lessons from a young age and made first solo appearance at the age of 16, and then entered the

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

Beaumaris Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...

, Anglesey and in 1910, she won first prize singing the Welsh song 'Gwraig y pysgotwr' (Eurgain), with Thomas Price (1857-1925), her future husband T. Osborne Roberts had been adjudicating the event. She also featured in the Eisteddfod in Colwyn Bay and came first in a field of 50 competitors. The fame brought the attention of George Power who enrolled her to the Royal Academy of Music in London; it was the future Prime minister

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

who helped her to travel to France for singing lessons with the famous

Jean de Reszke Jean de Reszke (born Jan Mieczysław Reszke; 14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish dramatic tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a wealthy Polish family with classical and operatic musical traditions. His mother gave him his first singing ...

who encouraged her to adopt the name 'Leila Megáne'. She had gained a 2-year contract to sing the Massenet in the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

, Paris. The dress she had worn in the Paris opera house is now on show at the national museum, St. Fagans,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, south Wales. Leila had entertained injured soldiers at the beginning of World War I in France; her fame brought attention from prominent politicians and among them

Lord Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the Lloyd George min ...

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...

and

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. Later in her career under the direction of

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...

she regularly sang in (the former)

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

for a period just over 8 years. Later on she signed up for a tour around Europe; she'd sang in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, then in 1923 she was invited to sing in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, it was in New York she'd married T. Osborne Roberts. On 11 October 1922, she made the first complete recording of Sir Edward Elgar's ''

Sea Pictures ''Sea Pictures, Op. 37'' is a song cycle for contralto and orchestra by Edward Elgar. It consists of settings of a poems by five different authors. A version for piano was often performed by Elgar. Many mezzo-sopranos have sung the piece. The ...

'' with Elgar himself conducting. On 12 November 1945, she gave her farewell concert in

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

Town Hall. After the death of her husband, she married a second time in 1951 to a Mr. William Hughes, someone she had previously performed with in many concerts. Since the 1956 Eisteddfod in Pwllheli, there has been a scholarship in her name was for amateur Welsh singers. She died at her home Melin Rhydhir, Efailnewydd, near Pwllheli in 1960.

Recordings

* Various composers: Elgar, T Osborne Roberts, ''Leila Megane'' Sain SCD2316 The following are compilations that include performances by Megane. * Bantock "Lament of Isis" from ''Songs of Egypt'' ''Bantock: Historical Recordings'' Dutton Laboratories CDLX7043 *

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, ''

'' Unidentified Orchestra, Edward Elgar ''The Elgar Edition'' GEMMCDS 9951–5 () * T. Osborne Roberts "Pistyll y llan" ''Darlun Fy Mam'' Sain SCDC2109

Books

* * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Megane, Leila 1891 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Welsh women opera singers British operatic mezzo-sopranos People from Bethesda, Gwynedd