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Amy Shuard CBE (19 July 1924\\xa0\\u2013 18 April 1975) was an English operatic soprano renowned in such dramatic roles as Elektra, Turandot and Br\\xfcnnhilde. She created both title roles in Jan\\xe1\\u010dek\'s K\\xe1\\u0165a Kabanov\\xe1 and Jen\\u016ffa in their respective British premieres. She has been described as "the best English dramatic soprano since Eva Turner" (her teacher). ^[1]

Biography

Amy Shuard was born in London. After studying at the Trinity College of Music, she had lessons from Eva Turner. In 1948 the Worshipful Company of Musicians awarded her a prize and she toured South Africa as the organization\'s representative.^[2] She returned there in 1949 to make her operatic debut, in Johannesburg, in the title role of Verdi\'s Aida; during that season she also sang Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann and Venus in Tannh\\xe4user. ^[3][2]

She sang at Sadlers Wells from 1949 to 1953, before undertaking more study in Milan^[2] with Rosetta Pampanini, and then at Covent Garden from 1954 until her death. She also sang at Bayreuth, La Scala, Vienna, Buenos Aires and San Francisco.^[3]

Her notable roles included the title roles in K\\xe1\\u0165a Kabanov\\xe1 (in the 1951 United Kingdom premiere), Jen\\u016ffa (in the 1956 UK premiere), Carmen, Tosca, Turandot, Elektra, Madama Butterfly and Aida; as well as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Eboli in Don Carlos, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Magda Sorel in The Consul, Lady Macbeth (in the first production of Verdi\'s Macbeth at Covent Garden), and Kostelni\\u010dka Buryjovka in Jen\\u016ffa in 1972 and 1974.^[3][1]

The latter part of the career saw her essay Wagnerian roles, and she was the first English soprano to sing Br\\xfcnnhilde at Covent Garden. She also sang Isolde at Geneva, as well as Sieglinde and Kundry.

San Francisco was the only place she appeared on stage in the United States, firstly as Br\\xfcnnhilde in Die Walk\\xfcre in October 1963, then in 1966 as Elektra, 1968 as Turandot, and finally as Br\\xfcnnhilde in G\\xf6tterd\\xe4mmerung in 1969.^[2]

Amy Shuard was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). She died in 1975, aged 50.

Aida,Tosca,Turandot,Boheme,Schicchi,Chenier,Cavalleria,Onegin