Elizabeth Fretwell

Background

She was born Betty Drina Fretwell in Murrumbeena, a suburb of Melbourne.

Career

She was the prima donna at London"s Opera (English National Opera) through much of the 1950s and 1960s. As a child, she had hoped to become a ballerina. However, she grew too big for this profession.

She focussed instead on singing, taking vocal studies in Melbourne.

Her operatic career began in 1950. In 1954, she sang Antonia in Offenbach"s The Tales of Hoffmann before Queen Elizabeth II who was on her first tour of Australia.

In order to gain greater skill she moved to London to study under the tenor Joseph Hislop who had also coached Jussi Björling and Birgit Nilsson. After returning to Australia she quickly started to make a name for herself, taking soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Puccini, amongst others

This caused a scandal in 1950s Australia so she and Simmons headed for the United Kingdom.

Once in Britain, Fretwell"s first professional engagement was for Dublin"s Grand Opera company. Her performances there came to the attention of and in 1955 they engaged her services as principal soprano. lieutenant was at this point she became known as Elizabeth Fretwell.

Sadler"s was where Fretwell"s finest performances were given, and she gained rave reviews.

From the early 1960s to 1970 she went back and forth between Australia and the United Kingdom performing. In 1965 she gave her only performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in Aida and Il tabarro.

She also performed with Scottish and Canadian companies and in North America. In 1969 Fretwell sang opposite Tito Gobbi in Falstaff, finally joining the ensemble of The Australian Opera in 1970.

During 1973 she sang in the opening season of the Sydney Opera House.

In her later career she took on smaller roles, to give up-and-coming singers there a chance to further their careers as principal singers. Her retirement was very low key. Number one in the company knew of her impending retirement before she left.

She did not want any fanfare or accolades at her last performance, and therefore only the management of the Australian Opera knew of her decision to retire in the late 1980s.

She later served on the Opera Foundation"s board for a number of years. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977.

On 5 June 2006 she died suddenly at her Bayview home, from a ruptured cerebral artery aneurysm, aged 85.

Achievements

• This was no small achievement given that at that time Maria Callas was dominant on the London opera stage.

Membership

She remained a member of the Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) until her retirement.