Description

MAUD PERCEVAL ALLEN (RIPLEY, DERBYSHIRE, 1880 – LONDON, DECEMBER, 1955)

 

 

 

 

She was trained by the renowned singing teacher William Shakespeare in London. In 1905, she made her debut in a concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. She subsequently enjoyed a prominent career as a concert and oratorio singer in England. Her stage appearances were rare but notable. Her operatic debut came in 1908 as Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung at Covent Garden Opera in London, conducted by Hans Richter. She reprised the role in 1910 under Sir Thomas Beecham.

Also in 1910, she sang Lia in the first staged performance of Debussy’s L’Enfant prodigue at Covent Garden, again under Beecham’s baton. In 1913, she toured with the Quinlan Opera Company in Australia, performing Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Ring operas in English. During this tour, she also performed in North America, including in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, with a repertoire that included Erda in the Ring cycle, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, and the title role in Sullivan’s Ivanhoe.

In 1913–1914, she completed a world tour, achieving acclaim wherever she performed. Later in her career, she transitioned to focus exclusively on concert singing, becoming a celebrated figure in the concert and oratorio scene.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. A roundelay (Lidgey) 3312 5012a G&T, London 1902-10-06
2. Because (d’Hardelot) 3467 WCG3827b (R) G&T, London 1903-06-02
3. Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) O night of love (w. Thornton) 2-4013 11690e HMV, London 1910-05-13
4. Damon (Stange) 3318 5014a G&T, London 1902-10-06
5. Elektra (Strauss) Allein 043118 2963f HMV, London 1909-04-07
6. Götterdämmerung (Wagner) Beloved Hero (w. Cornelius) 04029 2466f Gramophone, London 1908-05
7. I know a bank wheron the wild thyme grows (Horne) (w. Thornton) 04061 4199f HMV, London 1910-05-13
8. Let me dream again (Sullivan) 3600 2240e G&T, London 1905-07-10
9. Madcap Marjorie (Norton) 3306 4999a G&T, London 1902-09-18
10. Messiah (Händel) I know that my Redeemer liveth 03074 696½c G&T, London 1906-07-12
11. O dry those tears (del Riego) 3305 E4997a G&T, London 1902-09-18
12. Queen of the night (Smart) (w. Radford & Thornton) D 303 ac7254f HMV, London 1913-03-28
13. Sing me to sleep (Greene) 3346 6150a G&T, London 1904-04-18
14. Spring is here (Dicks) 3237 4133a G&T, London 1901-12
15. Sweet and low (Barnby) (w. Thornton, Harrison & Radford) 04010x z5487f HMV, London 1911-09-20
16. The flight of ages (Bevan) 3612 2310e G&T, London 1905-07-20
17. The four-leafed shamrock (Willeby) 3316 5079a G&T, London 1902-10-15
18. When hands meet (Pinsuti) (w. Thornton, Harrison & Radford) 04096 z5476f HMV, London 1911-09-20
19. While shepherds watch’d their flocks by night (-) (w. Thornton, Harrison & Gardner) 2-4218 Ho1090ak HMV, London 1914-10-21