Description

OLGA HALEY (HUDDERSFIELD, YORKSHIRE, 10 NOVEMBER, 1895 – WONFORD, DEVON, 26 MARCH, 1989)

 

 

 

 

Olga Haley was an English mezzo-soprano whose career embraced both operatic roles and concert recitals, with a repertoire ranging from the classics of Verdi and Bizet to the music of contemporary composers such as Frederick Delius. She was particularly admired in Scotland for her portrayals of Carmen in Carmen and Azucena in Il trovatore.

Olga was born on 10 November 1895 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, the daughter of Edward and Sarah Ellen (“Nellie”) Haley, both practising musicians. Her mother, a graduate of the Royal College of Music (RCM), gave her early piano lessons, while her father—describing himself as both a vocalist and an instrument maker—trained her in singing. The family resided at 21, Portland Street, Huddersfield, as recorded in the 1901 census.

She was educated at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School before enrolling at the RCM, where she attained her ARCM diploma in 1916. That same year she made her professional début, marking the beginning of a promising career.

Haley appeared regularly in concert settings. She sang for the Music Club on two occasions: February 1921 and February 1924, each time accompanied by her mother at the piano. Her first recital was a wide-ranging programme including works by Schubert, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Holbrooke, Boughton and Lyapunov. The second concert was organised thematically, featuring Folk Songs, Hebridean Songs, Contemporary Songs, and Classical Songs. Both programmes were substantial, comprising nearly twenty pieces. Committee records from 1923 show she was paid 30 guineas for her appearance—by comparison, the world-renowned Flonzaley Quartet received 50 guineas, or 60 “if necessary.”

On the operatic stage, Haley built a reputation in Scotland in the 1930s. Her roles included:

Alto soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem (1931)

Carmen, the gypsy (Carmen, 1938)

Azucena, a Biscayan gypsy woman (Il trovatore, 1938)

Maddalena, sister of Sparafucile (Rigoletto, 1939)

Mamsell Arvidson (Ulrica), a fortune-teller (Un ballo in maschera, 1939)Haley married twice. Her second marriage took place in 1945, to Maurice Wood—just a week after the death of her first husband, John Hinchcliffe. As she was not mentioned in Hinchcliffe’s will, it is thought that the marriage had already broken down. Following her second marriage she moved to Devon, retired from professional singing, and settled into private life.

She died on 26 March 1989 in Wonford, Devon, aged 93.

If her name is not widely remembered, her family’s musical legacy endures: her grandfather founded Wood’s Music Shops, long an invaluable resource for musicians in Huddersfield and Bradford.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Après une rêve (Faure) X-9528 03553 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)

Auf dem Wasser zu singen (Schubert) K-05122 03530 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)

Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) Dido’s lament K-05268 04379 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)

Lullaby (Scott) R 984 E 3661-1 Parlophon

Nuit d’étailes (Debussy) X-9932 03974 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)

On wings of song (Mendelssohn) A 3260 4205 Parlophon

Sadko (Rimsky-Korsakov) Song of India A 3260 4206-2 Parlophon

Serenade (Schubert) R 984 E 3660-1 Parlophon, 1931

Soft-footed snow (Lane) X-9932 03972 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)

Song of love and June (d’Hardelot) E19 (2-3295) Ho4148ae HMV, London 1918-05-16

The harvest of sorrow (Rachmaninoff) K-05122 03531 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)

The Holy Child (Easthope Martin) K-05268 04378 Vocalion, London 1923-1926 (ac)