Opera Singer. A contralto, she mastered the limited repertoire of her voice range to build a career throught England and Europe. Raised in Durham by a musical family (initially training as a cellist), Collins joined English National Opera (ENO) in 1971 after vocal study at the Royal College of Music. A company member thru 1976 (and frequent guest thereafter), she established herself in such roles as Suzuki in "Madame Butterfly", Ulrica in "Un Ballo in Maschera", and Mistress Quickly in "Falstaff". With ENO, Collins performed in the English premieres of Serge Prokofiev's "War and Peace" (1972) and in Hans Werner Henze's "The Bassarids" (1974), while assuming what were two very different signature pieces, Erda in an English translation of Wagner's "Das Rheingold", and Lady Jane in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience". Collins was Mrs. Sedley for ENO's production of Britten's "Peter Grimes", though she usually took the part of Auntie in the work elsewhere. Her debut with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, came in 1977, and was followed by numerous appearances over the years, often in the works of Wagner. She was to have success in such varied operas as "The Flying Dutchman", "The Marriage of Figaro", "Eugene Onegin", and "Boris Godunov", as well as in much of the Gilbert and Sullivan canon. Her performances were to take her to New York's Metropolitan and to most of the leading houses of Europe. As Lady Jane, she was even able to use her early experience, playing the cello solo herself, rather than miming it as most singers have to do. Collins died of cancer, leaving a rather large legacy of recordings, including a complete "Ring Cycle" done for ENO under the baton of Reginald Goodall.
Opera Singer. A contralto, she mastered the limited repertoire of her voice range to build a career throught England and Europe. Raised in Durham by a musical family (initially training as a cellist), Collins joined English National Opera (ENO) in 1971 after vocal study at the Royal College of Music. A company member thru 1976 (and frequent guest thereafter), she established herself in such roles as Suzuki in "Madame Butterfly", Ulrica in "Un Ballo in Maschera", and Mistress Quickly in "Falstaff". With ENO, Collins performed in the English premieres of Serge Prokofiev's "War and Peace" (1972) and in Hans Werner Henze's "The Bassarids" (1974), while assuming what were two very different signature pieces, Erda in an English translation of Wagner's "Das Rheingold", and Lady Jane in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience". Collins was Mrs. Sedley for ENO's production of Britten's "Peter Grimes", though she usually took the part of Auntie in the work elsewhere. Her debut with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, came in 1977, and was followed by numerous appearances over the years, often in the works of Wagner. She was to have success in such varied operas as "The Flying Dutchman", "The Marriage of Figaro", "Eugene Onegin", and "Boris Godunov", as well as in much of the Gilbert and Sullivan canon. Her performances were to take her to New York's Metropolitan and to most of the leading houses of Europe. As Lady Jane, she was even able to use her early experience, playing the cello solo herself, rather than miming it as most singers have to do. Collins died of cancer, leaving a rather large legacy of recordings, including a complete "Ring Cycle" done for ENO under the baton of Reginald Goodall.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
