Jennifer Vyvyan

Jennifer Vyvyan (13 March 1925 – 5 April 1974) was a British classical soprano who had an active international career in operas, concerts, and recitals from 1948 up until her death in 1974. She possessed a beautifully clear, steady voice with considerable flexibility in florid music. She was praised for her subtle phrasing and her dramatic gifts enabled her to create vivid individual portrayals. Although she sang a broad repertoire, she is particularly remembered for her association with the works of Benjamin Britten; notably singing roles created for her in the world premieres of several of his operas with the English Opera Group.

On the concert stage, Vyvyan was highly active as an oratorio singer. The warmth and flexibility of her voice made her an outstanding exponent of the music of Purcell, Handel and other baroque composers. She frequently collaborated with the Royal Choral Society, often under conductor Malcolm Sargent, and sang countless performances of Messiah throughout Britain and abroad – not least, with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Born in Broadstairs, England, Vyvyan entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1941 where she initially was a piano student. She was convinced by a faculty member to pursue a singing career and began her initial studies as a mezzo-soprano. During her last two and a half years at the conservatory she studied with Roy Henderson who trained her in the soprano repertoire. After graduating in 1947 she went to Milan for further studies and later studied privately with Fernando Carpi in Geneva in 1950. In 1951 she won the Geneva International Singing Competition.

In 1948 Vyvyan became a member of Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group (EOG), making her professional debut with the company as Jenny Diver in the première of Britten's version of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. She appeared in several more roles with the organisation over the next two years, including Nancy in Albert Herring and the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia. In 1951 she created the role of the Matron in the premiere of Brian Easdale's The Sleeping Children with the EOG in Cheltenham.

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