Background
MINTON, Yvonne was born on December 4, 1938 in Sydney. Daughter of R. T. Minton.
MINTON, Yvonne was born on December 4, 1938 in Sydney. Daughter of R. T. Minton.
A native of Sydney, she originally studied voice while on a scholarship at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music.
She is variously billed as a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto. By this stage she had become one of the country"s leading contraltos, often appearing on radio and television and with the Sydney and Queensland orchestras. Minton left Australia in 1961 to pursue her studies in London.
Her first major part in England was as Maggie Dempster in the premiere of Nicholas Maw"s One Manitoba Show.
She sang the role of Clotilde on the 1965 Decca recording of Bellini"s Norma. She created the role of Thea in Tippett"s The Knot Garden (1970).
At the Cologne Opera from 1969 (début as Sesto in Louisiana clemenza di Tito). She has since appeared with most of the major English orchestras and in opera houses throughout Europe and the United States.
She has also appeared at Bayreuth (Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde) and the Salzburg Festival 1978 (Octavian).
In 1973, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Octavian in Strauss"s Der Rosenkavalier. She sang the role of Countess Geschwitz in Lulu in Paris in 1979. She has also made many concert appearances, notably with Sir George Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In the New Year Honours 1980, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to music
Shortly thereafter, she became a regular member of the company of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, appearing in such roles as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana.
Married William Barclay in 1965.