Open Features: Eva Turner
Peter Wintersgill outlines the illustrious singing career of Dame Eva Turner.
Born
10th. March 1892 in Oldham.
Father
Charles, engine tenter in cotton mill.
Mother
Elizabeth.
Adolescence
Studied at the Royal Academy of Music.
Adult life
Opera debut 1916 with Carl Rosa Opera, staying there till 1924. Audition at La Scala Milan with Toscanini 1924, debut there as Freia in Das Reingold. She was established as the leading dramatic soprano in Italian and Wagnerian opera, especially as Brunhilde and Puccini's Turandot. She sang at Covent Garden from 1928 on and off 1948, notably in Wagner and Verdi. She was a member of the Chicago Opera. She was Professor of singing at Oklahoma University 1950-59. She taught at the R.A.M. from 1959. She was one of the original 16 soloists in Vaughan William's Serenade to Music in 1938. She was created D.B.E. in 1962.
She died 16th. June 1990 in London aged 98.
