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250:"a not over-exhilarating exhibition of that after dinner, drawing room type of singing which is happily a thing of the past." As a broadcaster, Griffin was continually engaged by the BBC in a range of work from light duets, comic duets (with her husband), and solos, to opera, appearing in broadcasts of
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said, "It is Elsie
Griffin, however, with her deliciously fresh and effortless singing, who demands – and receives – the big bouquet. Her "Poor Wandering One" is a sheer joy – brilliant but never shrill, and with trills that would not discredit the great
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musical, in which she and her husband toured around the world from 1955 until 1957. Despite chronic illness, during the D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company's centennial season in 1975, Griffin and her husband participated in the final performance of
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said of her Mabel, "Every note dead in its centre, every run as clear as a whistle, and the whole number sung with an ease and mastery which has never been bettered." In 1921, she added the roles of Yum-Yum in
215:. The couple had a daughter, Mahala Menzies. She continued to play or share these principal soprano roles and sometimes the two smaller ones, finally adding to her repertoire the part of Casilda in
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with the D'Oyly Carte from 1919 to 1926, also recording several of her roles with the company both during that time and afterwards. She married another D'Oyly Carte performer,
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disparaged the show: "Feeble ... halting ... half-hearted. ... Artistically it is as if
Gilbert had gone solemn on Sullivan." See "London Hippodrome – The Vanishing Island",
115:", that is preserved in the mind's ear of surviving 1914–1918 trench fodder." Her performances of these two songs made them into two of the most popular hits of the era.
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Griffin was an experienced recording artist by the time she joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company. Her recordings with the company included Rose Maybud and Zorah in
383:(1926). She also sang Yum-Yum in a BBC radio broadcast with D'Oyly Carte that year. After she left the company, she returned to record Mabel in
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later that year, Griffin reprised her role as Yum-Yum. In 1927, she left the company but returned from time to time to participate in recordings.
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32:(6 December 1895 – 21 December 1989) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the
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set, when released separately, was voted the best
British gramophone solo that year, and a review in
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wrote that her "'secure coloratura and bell-like purity of tone' made her the definitive Mabel."
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63:, in 1923. She continued her singing and acting careers into the 1950s, including tours with the
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in 1925. She played Yum-Yum in the company's four-minute silent promotional film of
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called her "one of the leading coloratura sopranos in the 1920s and 1930s". A
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in 1919, immediately appearing on tour in the leading roles of
Josephine in
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575:. The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 15 April 2009, accessed 7 June 2010
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herself." When the 1929 recording was reissued on LP in 1981, a critic for
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Beginning her career by entertaining
British troops in France during
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at St. Michael's on the Mount
Primary School commemorates her life.
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79:, England, and sang onstage as a child prodigy. She attended the
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After further concert work in 1918, Griffin was engaged by the
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395:(1930). Her 1929 recording of "Poor Wandering One" from the
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called her "a vocalist of real distinction". Her colleague,
99:, singing concerts to entertain Britain's troops in France.
179:. She also briefly played the small role of Lady Ella in
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category at the
Bristol Music Festival in 1914. During
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In 1923, Griffin married fellow D'Oyly Carte artiste
91:, she made her professional debut in the concerts of
455:"Blue plaque for Bristol opera singer Elsie Griffin"
679:, 29 January 1935, p. 10; and 26 April 1935, p. 7
185:. She was immediately singled out for praise:
25:Postcard autographed by Elsie Griffin, c. 1921
508:Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
8:
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295:from 1934 to 1937, singing leading roles in
83:Primary School. She was joint winner in the
768:Profile and autographed postcard of Griffin
809:20th-century British women opera singers
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277:Griffin appeared in a British tour of
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103:wrote of her, "Hers was the voice in
95:'s company, formed at the request of
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734:The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion
780:Theatre and Performance Department.
291:company. She also toured with the
736:. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd.
14:
719:, September 1929, Vol. VII, p.169
442:, Vol. 1, No. 6, 1990, pp. 176–77
238:In 1929, Griffin appeared at the
51:, she popularised such songs as "
707:, Vol. 14, No. 2, September 1975
16:English opera singer (1895–1989)
593:obituary, 1 January 1990, p. 12
774:Elsie Griffin and Ivan Menzies
1:
551:website, accessed 7 June 2010
440:W. S. Gilbert Society Journal
335:. Her last stage role was in
231:opera to be broadcast by the
549:Memories of the D'Oyly Carte
353:Griffin died in Blackheath,
457:, BBC News, 7 February 2012
438:"Obituary: Elsie Griffin",
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778:Victoria and Albert Museum
763:Postcard photos of Griffin
141:D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
81:St. Michael's on the Mount
75:Elsie Griffin was born in
42:D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
794:English operatic sopranos
753:Several photos of Griffin
643:, 26 February 1929, p. 26
480:Arlott, John. "Deaths",
619:, 15 October 1929, p. 14
607:, 15 January 1929, p. 10
391:(1929) and Josephine in
562:"The 1926 D'Oyly Carte
486:, 3 January 1990, p. 31
293:Carl Rosa Opera Company
170:The Pirates of Penzance
158:The Yeomen of the Guard
65:Carl Rosa Opera Company
61:J. Ivan "Jimmy" Menzies
55:". She was a principal
631:, 22 August 1927, p. 8
535:, 5 October 1919, p. 7
379:(1924) and Yum-Yum in
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732:Ayre, Leslie (1972).
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320:The Tales of Hoffmann
304:The Barber of Seville
244:The Rose and the Ring
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814:Singers from Bristol
667:, 29 July 1929, p. 8
357:, in 1989, aged 94.
337:The Vanishing Island
229:Gilbert and Sullivan
695:, 8 June 1956, p. 3
571:24 May 2016 at the
202:and Rose Maybud in
67:from 1934 to 1937.
522:, May 1918, p. 230
413:The New York Times
332:The Elixir of Love
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758:Photos of Griffin
587:"Elsie Griffin",
520:The Musical Times
468:The Musical Times
341:Moral Re-Armament
287:in 1933 with the
240:Playhouse Theatre
227:became the first
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149:and Gianetta in
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254:'s comic opera
248:London Coliseum
173:and Phyllis in
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298:Die Fledermaus
257:Le roi l'a dit
223:in 1926. When
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152:The Gondoliers
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164:The Sorcerer
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132:The Sorcerer
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127:Derek Oldham
123:Henry Lytton
93:Lena Ashwell
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38:Savoy Operas
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18:
804:1989 deaths
799:1895 births
408:Galli-Curci
365:blue plaque
262:Heddle Nash
167:, Mabel in
107:'s songs, "
101:John Arlott
89:World War I
49:World War I
788:Categories
726:References
381:The Mikado
371:Recordings
284:Lilac Time
225:The Mikado
221:The Mikado
199:The Mikado
693:The Times
689:The Times
677:The Times
665:The Times
653:The Times
641:The Times
629:The Times
617:The Times
604:The Times
590:The Times
377:Ruddigore
360:The Times
205:Ruddigore
135:, c. 1920
109:Danny Boy
53:Danny Boy
40:with the
569:Archived
393:Pinafore
182:Patience
176:Iolanthe
547:at the
397:Pirates
385:Pirates
252:Delibes
111:" and "
77:Bristol
57:soprano
34:soprano
564:Mikado
389:Yeomen
355:Surrey
309:Carmen
271:Carmen
268:, and
566:Film"
420:Notes
326:Faust
260:with
339:, a
329:and
264:and
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242:in
233:BBC
129:in
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580:^
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742:.
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