Margaret Preece
Margaret Preece is an English operatic soprano who has performed internationally in opera as well as musical theatre productions.
Career
[edit]Preece trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland,[1] and has worked with the Scottish Opera and Opera North.[2] She had leading roles in the English National Opera's productions of The Cunning Little Vixen, Don Giovanni, and The Love for Three Oranges. In 2005 she portrayed the title role in Carl Rosa Company's production of The Merry Widow.[3] In 2007 she starred in the West End revival of The Sound of Music as the Mother Abbess, replacing Lesley Garrett.[4][5] In the late 1990s, she starred as Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in London for 18 months.[6] Preece recorded the operatic singing voice for Carlotta in the 2004 film The Phantom of the Opera, over-dubbing for Minnie Driver.[7][8][9][10] Originally from Solihull, she left the Birmingham & Midland Operatic Society in the 1970s to tour Europe.[6][11]
In 2008 Margaret Preece released an album called Isn't It Romantic, which features songs by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by both Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein, including Isn't It Romantic?.[12]
Following the closure of The Sound Of Music, she played Vava in Opera North's production of Paradise Moscow in spring 2009. There were performances in Leeds, Newcastle, Salford (the Lowry), Nottingham and Bregenz. In the summer, Preece reprised her role as the Mother Abbess in the UK Tour of The Sound of Music, including performances at the Wales Millennium Centre.[13]
In 2022, Preece played the role of the strict Mother Superior in the musical Sister Act with the English Theatre Frankfurt.[14]
Reception
[edit]Musical theatre
[edit]In 2009, the Western Mail said in a review of The Sound of Music that "Margaret Preece as the Mother Abbess could probably shatter the chandelier on the centre of the stage with her amazing soprano voice."[15]
In 2022, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said that Margaret Preece was one of the singers in Sister Act who would be thrilling even if they were only singing a telephone book".[14]
Opera
[edit]A 2003 review in The Spectator said Preece's turn as Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with the English Touring Opera "stands out" in "a superb ensemble effort".[16] The Independent found Preece "vocally lustrous" in the Garsington Festival production of Il mondo della luna in 2000.[17]
Stage repertoire
[edit]- Varochka and Vava in Paradise Moscow (spring 2009)
- Sister Sophia and Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music[5]
- Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera[6]
- Donna Elvira and Zerlina in Don Giovanni
- Fiordiligi and Despina in Così fan tutte
- The Queen of the Night and Papagena in The Magic Flute
- Adina in L'Elisir D'Amore
- Alice Ford in Falstaff
- Musetta in La bohème
- Ninetta in The Love for Three Oranges
- Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus[16]
- Clarice and Flamina in Il mondo della luna
- Oriana in Amadigi
- Susan Cooper in Love Life
- Mary Turner in Of Thee I Sing
- Bacchae and Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow
- Mother Superior in Sister Act[14]
Film
[edit]- Operatic singing voice for Carlotta and the Confidante in The Phantom of the Opera (2004)[10][9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Cast & Creatives – Sister Act". The English Theatre Frankfurt. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- ^ "Preece takes over as Garrett kicks the habit". Official London Theatre. 21 April 2008.
- ^ "Margaret makes Merry". Manchester Evening News. 1 July 2005.
- ^ "Theatre news". WhatsOnStage.com logo. 27 April 2007. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ a b Laws, Roz (6 May 2007). "BAD HABITS ; EXCLUSIVE Sound of Music's nuns say so long, farewell to their knickers". Sunday Mercury. ProQuest 322317256. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b c Slim, John (27 October 2006). "She's set to Climb Ev'ry Mountain! ; Amateur Stage Margaret lands top role in The Sound of Music in West End". Birmingham Mail. ProQuest 322961914. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Jeys, Anna (8 December 2004). "I'M THE VOICE THAT DRIVES MINNIE ; Singer Margaret is the real phantom of this opera". Evening Mail. Birmingham. ProQuest 322700143. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Shirley, Don (2 January 2005). "Ideas weren't sound". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- ^ a b Chaytor, Rod (9 December 2004). "Film snub for 'voice of Minnie'". The Daily Mirror. ProQuest 339396378. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Newman, Kim (February 2005). "The Phantom of the Opera". Sight and Sound. Vol. 15, no. 2. pp. 65–66. ProQuest 237114209. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "All a matter of scale for opera". Birmingham Post. 26 September 1998. ProQuest 326435871. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Finkle, David (25 March 2013). "Margaret Preece: Isn't It Romantic?". Backstage Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- ^ "The Sound of Music, Wales Millennium Centre". South Wales Argus. 10 August 2009.
- ^ a b c Riethmüller, Christian (15 November 2022). "Gotteslob unter der Discokugel: Klosterwelt auf den Kopf gestellt: Das English Theatre zeigt das Musical "Sister Act" als mitreißende Revue". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). ProQuest 2736372869. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
Das Hinhören lohnt sich daher gewiss, auch wenn besonders der Gesang von Kalisha Amaris, Jonathan Andre, Alfie Parker und Margaret Preece schon begeistern würde, intonierten sie nur ein Telefonbuch.
- ^ "A fabulous night at the theatre". Western Mail. 1 August 2009. ProQuest 341790627. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Tanner, Michael (29 March 2003). "Understated affair". The Spectator. ProQuest 201137184. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ 'Vickers, Hugh (16 June 2000). "Opera: Il Mondo Della Luna, Figaro Garsington Festival". The Independent. ProQuest 311687137. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via ProQuest.
External links
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