Isobel Baillie
Dame Isobel Baillie DBE (9 March 1895 – 24 September 1983) was a Scottish soprano, popular in opera, oratorio and lieder. She was regarded as one of the 20th century's great oratorio singers.
Isobel Baillie was born in Hawick, Scottish Borders, in 1895. She worked in a music shop and as a clerk at Manchester Town Hall, and made her debut with the Hallé Orchestra in 1921 under the name Bella Baillie.[1] After studies in Milan, she won immediate success in her opening season in London in 1923. Her favourite work was Handel's Messiah, of which she gave over 1,000 performances during her career. She was often in demand for choral works; apart from Messiah, she was noted in Haydn's The Creation, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Brahms's A German Requiem. In 1933 she became the first British performer to sing in the Hollywood Bowl in California. In 1937 Arturo Toscanini chose her to sing Brahms' Requiem. [2]
Her performances in Gluck's Orpheus (always in English) and Gounod's Faust were very popular. However, her strength was in British music, including Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music (of which she was one of the original singers) and Elgar's The Kingdom.
She taught at the Royal College of Music (1955-57, 1961-64), Cornell University (1960-61) and the Manchester School of Music (from 1970). She gave tuition to Kathleen Ferrier and often performed with her.[citation needed]
She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951, and was promoted in 1978 to Dame Commander (DBE). She died in Manchester in 1983, aged 88.
She is related to the singer Calum A. Macdonald who is a scottish baritone singer.
[edit] References
- ^ Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music p 48
- ^ Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music p 48
- D. Brook, Singers of Today (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), pp. 27-32.
- Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4
