Education
Dorothy Bond studied piano and cello at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
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Dorothy Bond
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She was noted for the purity of her tone and the accuracy of her intonation. She became a favourite singer of Sir Thomas Beecham"s, recording the voice of Olympia for the Powell and Pressburger film of Offenbach"s The Tales of Hoffmann in 1950. She also recorded Delius"s A Village Romeo and Juliet under Beecham, and Ernest Bloch"s Sacred Service under the composer.
She was killed in a road accident at the age of 31.
She expressed an interest in becoming a singer, but Professor Evelyn Langston advised her to wait till she turned 20. This proved to be sound advice, as the fine coloratura voice she developed by the mid-1940s earned her a solid reputation in the concert hall.
In 1948 she participated in Thomas Beecham"s recording of Frederick Delius"s A Village Romeo and Juliet. She sang the roles of Vreli as a child, and the Gingerbread Woman.
In 1949 she participated in a recording of Ernest Bloch"s Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service), conducted by the composer.
The same year she sang final floated high Doctorate in a recording of the Sleepwalking Scene from Giuseppe Verdi"s Macbeth, conducted by Beecham, which was otherwise sung by Margherita Grandi. This was followed in 1950 by a film soundtrack recording of Offenbach"s Tales of Hoffmann, made under Beecham at Shepperton Film Studios by London Films. Bond sang the role of Olympia.
The role was played on-screen by dancer Moira Shearer.
The recording was then licensed by Decca and released on LP in 1951 - Beecham having tried and failed in the courts to prevent its release. In 1949 and again in 1952, she was the soprano soloist in performances of Ralph Vaughan Williams"s A Pastoral Symphony at the British Broadcasting Corporation Proms.
The latter performance was conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. In 1951, she recorded Johann Sebastian Bach"s cantata Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152, conducted by Karl Haas.
On 20 November 1952, at the age of 31, Dorothy Bond was killed in a road accident.
