ALWAYS SANG LOUDEST AT SCHOOL

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 506, 4 March 1949, Page 20

ALWAYS SANG LOUDEST AT SCHOOL

Gladys Ripley is not England’s leading contralto, at the present time, she is certainly ofie of the few really top flight singers in the country, with Kathleen Ferrier, Muriel Brunskill, and,

perhaps, Astra Desmond. She was born in Essex some 40 years ago, and began her. singing at school concerts, where, as legend has it; she became known as ‘the girl who always sang loudest, a pseudonym to be extended in her later successful years, to "the girl who always sang loudest ‘at school." When she left school, however, her parents intended her to pursue a business career, and so to a business college she went, to take a course in commercial work. But she soon made up her own mind that singing was more attractive, and started taking lessons with the intention of making a career in music. When she was 17 she took the second

contralto part in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, at the Albert,Hall, and since then she has established herself as one of England’s leading contraltos, constantly in demand for performances in opera and oratorio, for broadcasting, and as a soloist at leading concerts and festivals throughout the country. What are the qualities that have raised her to this eminence? As a singer she has something more than a voice of wonderful texture. She has also a strong personality, and the ability to communicate the mood of a song to her audience that only great singers possess, Another unusual attribute is her facility in getting a tremendous amount of power without sacrifice of quality. Indeed, whatever the depth of her singing there is never a trace of coarseness detectable. She has a voice which one critic described as being "velvet in all registers," and the bloom of it is not yet lost, for she is still at the peak of her power and range. Among her most recent performances in England was that of Elijah, with Heddle Nash and the Birmingham Oriana and Ruberry Choir. During the coming week South Island listeners and concert-goers will have their first opportunity of hearing Gladys Ripley during this year’s tour. After her concert at the Nelson School of _Music this Saturday, March 5 (the first. half is being broadcast), she will be heard in a studio recital from 3YA at 8.0 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9. On Friday, March 11, she will give a public concert in Timaru, the second half of which will be broadcast from 3XC. On Sunday, March 13, Dunedin listeners will hear Gladys Ripley in a studio recital from 4YA. This is timed to start at 8.20 p.m.