A fact from Anne Sharp appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 8 March 2011 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
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This article has insufficient references because the information was acquired directly from the subject, who is 94 years old. Her career is poorly documented online, although references appear in various music publications, principally covering the works of Benjamin Britten. The author of the article hopes that some musicological editors might be in a position to provide further citations. Morag Kerr (talk) 23:06, 19 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I have been digging through a box of programmes and so on which I haven't looked at since 1979, and found several useful references, including some press cuttings. It's beginning to look reasonably well referenced (though The Death of Tintagiles is proving difficult to source, that damn opera seems to have sunk without trace after its first performance). Morag Kerr (talk) 22:52, 5 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Corrected date of linked photograph. The site on which the photograph appears dates it to 1951, however the subject says the photo is of a 1949 performance, because she wore a different dress in the 1951 revival. Morag Kerr (talk) 00:04, 20 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Regarding the costume change. The Juliet costume in the small linked photo on the boosey.com web site is a plain dark dress with a white lace collar. Sharp says it was in fact dark green, and her favourite costume. She wore it in all performances before her marriage (in December 1950). In 1951, when she returned to appear in the revival, she had put on some weight and the original costume no longer fitted. An entirely new costume was created, which is the dress that can be seen in the Angus McBean photograph on the wiki page. (Sharp commented that she thought the low-cut bodice showing a bit of cleavage was inappropriate for a 14-year-old, compared to the high neckline of the original.) Thus it appears that the 1951 date Boosey assigns to their photo is wrong, and the photo is from one of the original 1949 performances. Morag Kerr (talk) 11:25, 22 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Added links to more pics of the original Let's Make an Opera production. This production was the subject of a feature in Picture Post in 1949, and the illustrations are now online. Morag Kerr (talk) 00:59, 4 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Do you think it's necessary? There's a little more detail just a little later in the paragraph specifying Britten, and the entire section is really about her work with Britten. Then there's the actual recording referenced, which is pretty clear. Morag Kerr (talk) 14:10, 21 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Re-reading the whole section (and more), the article is almost monomanaically fixated on the operas of Britten. To the exclusion (almost) of Sharp's other work, of which there was some, but that's because the notability factor of this singer's career is entirely due to her association with Britten. And there there's these dates all over the place. Do you seriously think this needs clarifying? Morag Kerr (talk) 14:45, 21 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry if I came over snappy, not intended. I just thought it was obvious anyway, in the context, and wondered if adding the clarification would make it read clunky. But it doesn't at all and thanks. Morag Kerr (talk) 00:18, 22 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Small world. Reading the wiki page on The Beggar's Opera I notice a source named as Allan Ramsay's The Gentle Shepherd. Anne Sharp now lives three miles from the village of Carlops, which has very strong associations with Ramsay and this work. (I won't pass on her opinion of the food at the Allan Ramsay Inn in Carlops, just in case anybody's reading this!) Morag Kerr (talk) 00:13, 22 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
