Constance Shacklock
Encyclopedia
Constance Shacklock OBE (1913–1999) was an English contralto
. After more than a decade of roles with the Covent Garden Opera Company
, with other companies and on the concert stage, Shacklock performed for six years in The Sound of Music
in London as the Mother Abbess. She taught singing at the Royal Academy of Music
from 1968 to 1978.
. Her career took off after she was recruited in 1946 to the new Covent Garden Opera Company
. Her first Covent Garden appearance was in Purcell
's masque The Fairy-Queen
. She remained with the company for a decade, beginning with small roles such as Mercedes in Carmen
and moving up to leading parts including Carmen, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier
), Marina (Boris Godunov
), Magdalene (Die Meistersinger), and Mrs Sedley (Peter Grimes
). In 1948 she was cast as Brangane in Tristan and Isolde
alongside the celebrated Norwegian soprano, Kirsten Flagstad
. In 1953 she shared the title role of Britten
's Gloriana with Joan Cross
.
Away from Covent Garden, Shacklock appeared in opera in Berlin with Erich Kleiber
, and sang in oratorio, notably as the angel in The Dream of Gerontius
with Sir John Barbirolli
. She was also a regular at Last Night of the Proms with Sir Malcolm Sargent
, celebrated for her singing of Rule, Britannia!
.
In 1961, Shacklock left the operatic stage and joined the cast of The Sound of Music
for a six-year run as the Mother Abbess at the Palace Theatre
. She retired from performing, and taught singing at the Royal Academy of Music from 1968 to 1978. Notable students included the British opera singers Kathryn Harries and Victoria Burmester. Shacklock was awarded the OBE
in 1971 and became president of the Association of Teachers of Singing in 1995. While teaching at the Royal Academy of Music she became close friends with a young mezzo-soprano from Birmingham called Jean Tredaway, whom she subsequently adopted. Jean Tredaway, who died in 2006, was born in 1935, the youngest of eight children of Robert H. Tredaway and May Trueman.
Shacklock married organist Eric George Mitchell in 1947 (died 1965). She died in London in 1999. A vast archive of personal documents once belonging to her was discovered in a Midlands property and was auctioned on 18 August 2010 in Lichfield. The eponymous Constance Close in Kingston Vale, Surrey, was created on the site of her residence in her memory.
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
. After more than a decade of roles with the Covent Garden Opera Company
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
, with other companies and on the concert stage, Shacklock performed for six years in The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
in London as the Mother Abbess. She taught singing at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
from 1968 to 1978.
Life and career
Shacklock was born in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, and trained at the Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. Her career took off after she was recruited in 1946 to the new Covent Garden Opera Company
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
. Her first Covent Garden appearance was in Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's masque The Fairy-Queen
The Fairy-Queen
The Fairy-Queen is a masque or semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's wedding comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell's death at the age...
. She remained with the company for a decade, beginning with small roles such as Mercedes in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
and moving up to leading parts including Carmen, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
), Marina (Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
), Magdalene (Die Meistersinger), and Mrs Sedley (Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
). In 1948 she was cast as Brangane in Tristan and Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
alongside the celebrated Norwegian soprano, Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano...
. In 1953 she shared the title role of Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Gloriana with Joan Cross
Joan Cross
Joan Cross was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on the direction of the Sadler's Wells Opera Company.-Career:Cross was born in London...
.
Away from Covent Garden, Shacklock appeared in opera in Berlin with Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Born in Vienna, Kleiber studied in Prague...
, and sang in oratorio, notably as the angel in The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
with Sir John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli, CH was an English conductor and cellist. Born in London, of Italian and French parentage, he grew up in a family of professional musicians. His father and grandfather were violinists...
. She was also a regular at Last Night of the Proms with Sir Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
, celebrated for her singing of Rule, Britannia!
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740...
.
In 1961, Shacklock left the operatic stage and joined the cast of The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
for a six-year run as the Mother Abbess at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre
-Canada:* Palace Theatre, Calgary, Alberta* Palace Theatre , Montreal, Quebec - see Robillard Block-United Kingdom:* Palace Theatre, London, England* Palace Theatre, Manchester, England* Palace Theatre, Mansfield, England...
. She retired from performing, and taught singing at the Royal Academy of Music from 1968 to 1978. Notable students included the British opera singers Kathryn Harries and Victoria Burmester. Shacklock was awarded the OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1971 and became president of the Association of Teachers of Singing in 1995. While teaching at the Royal Academy of Music she became close friends with a young mezzo-soprano from Birmingham called Jean Tredaway, whom she subsequently adopted. Jean Tredaway, who died in 2006, was born in 1935, the youngest of eight children of Robert H. Tredaway and May Trueman.
Shacklock married organist Eric George Mitchell in 1947 (died 1965). She died in London in 1999. A vast archive of personal documents once belonging to her was discovered in a Midlands property and was auctioned on 18 August 2010 in Lichfield. The eponymous Constance Close in Kingston Vale, Surrey, was created on the site of her residence in her memory.
Sources
- http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/nyregion/constance-shacklock-86-mezzo-soprano.html
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/1999/jul/01/guardianobituaries2
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-constance-shacklock-1103492.html *http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101072553/
- http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/news/stories3/news2190.html
- http://www.richardwinterton.co.uk/1034/A-Tribute-to-Constance-Shacklock-OBE.htm