Open Features: Isobel Bailie
Peter Wintersgill presents a brief portrait of the noted oratorio and lieder singer Isobel Baillie.
Born
9 March, 1895, in Hawick, Scotland.
Father
Martin, a baker.
Mother
Isabella.
Adolescence
Isobel Bailie studied in Manchester with Sadler Fogg and later in Milan.
Adult Life
Her Manchester debut was in 1921 with the Halle, her London Debut in 1923 and her American debut in 1933. She sang at all the chief English festivals.
She was noted chiefly as an oratorio and lieder singer, especially in Messiah.
Toscanini chose her to sing in the Brahms Requiem.
She was one of the 16 original singers in Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music in 1938.
After her retirement she taught, chiefly in Manchester.
She died on 24 September, 1983, in Manchester, aged 88.
