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Born: 1921 - Wandsworth, Surrey, England
Died: November 20, 1952 - Leicester, England |
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The English coloratura soprano, Dorothy Irene Bond, studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London. But her innate desire was to be a singer, and certainly there was every indication that she possessed the makings of a voice of extraordinary range. However, the senior female singing professor of the time told her that she must be patient, and that she would not touch such a delicate vocal instrument until Dorothy was twenty years old. Professor Evelyn Langston proved to be right, and produced in Dorothy Bond an utterly amazing coloratura soprano - so amazing indeed that Thomas Beecham and she worked with him in many of his concerts. She was a well-known coloratura in the late 1940's and early 1950's, whose purity of tone had established her reputation on the concert platform; she was also an accomplished pianist. In 1951 she married the violin virtuoso Tom William Jenkins (1910-1957). They had one son. Unfortunately their partnership was tragically cut short in November 1952 when Dorothy was killed in a car accident when she was only thirty-one years of age.
Dorothy Bond was the voice for Olympia in the movie The Tales of Hoffman, an adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's opera (1951, with ballerina Moira Shearer as Olympia). Mrs. Jo Mergel wrote about her singing in this movie: "I cannot believe that such a magical, angelic, awesome soprano voice is a person who isn't known (let alone famous!)" (January 2009). Dorothy Bond took part also in a complete recording of this opera conducted by Thomas Beecham (1947, Somm / Pearl). Other recordings: Ernest Bloch: Sacred Service Auodath Hakodesh, conducted by the composer (1949, Rockport); Delius: Village Romeo and Juliet, conducted by Thomas Beecham (Naxos); J.S. Bach: Cantata BWV 152, conducted by Karl Haas (1951, Westminster). She also sings several arias and songs on an album of her husdband Tom Jennkins "The Great Violinists Volume 11" (Symposium), recorded in June 1952, a few months before her death. |
