Norma Procter (Contralto)

Born: February 15, 1928 - Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England

The English contralto, (Mary) Norma Procter, studied voice with Roy Henderson and Alec Redshaw.

Norma Procter was a leading British contralto in the years after World War II. She made her debut in George Frideric Handel’s Messiah at Southwark Cathedral in 1948. Soon she established herself as an outstanding concert singer. In 1961 she made her operatic debut at London’s Covent Garden as Gluck’s Orpheus. She was chosen by Benjamin Britten to sing the title role of his The Rape of Lucretia at the 1958 Aldeburgh Festival. Although she did sing opera, she was best known as a concert, oratorio, and recital singer. She had a rich, warm voice that was strong and reliable, lacking the pinched or squally sound that often is associated with oratorio singing. She worked with the leading conductors of her time, including Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein, Jascha Horenstein, Rafael Kubelik, Sir Malcolm Sargent, and Pierre Boulez. She performed at major British music festivals, various European festivals, and gave numerous concerts, recitals throughout Europe and frequent broadcasts in Britain, Holland and Germany.

Norma Procter sang in and recorded virtually every Gustav Mahler work with an alto part, including the first complete version of G. Mahler's Das Klagende Lied. Others of her many recordings include George Frideric Handel's Alcina with Joan Sutherland, several Bach cantatas, Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, L.v. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, B. Britten's Spring Symphony, and G. Mahler's 3^rd Symphony. She was honoured with RAM in 1974.

Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997); All Music Guide (Author: Joseph Stevenson); International Who's Who in Music & Musicians' Directory (13^th Edition, 1992/93)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2001, December 2008); Manfred Krugmann (Photos 02-03, July 2011)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Ferdinand Leitner

Mezzo

G.F. Handel: Opera Alcina, HWV 34 [Bradamante]

Helmuth Rilling

Alto

BWV 45, BWV 176

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