April Cantelo

April Rosemary Cantelo (2 April 1928 – 16 July 2024) was an English soprano. She created roles in operas by major composers, including the title role of Semele by John Eccles, Helena in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in several works by Malcolm Williamson such as English Eccentrics.

Life and career April Rosemary Cantelo was born in Purbrook, Hampshire, on 2 April 1928, She sang in a church choir and played the piano, taking lessons at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1947 she performed Bach arias with the Chelmsford Festival Orchestra. She performed at the Glyndebourne Festival the following year as Barbarina, and in 1953 as Echo and as Blonde in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, In the first half of the 1950s she appeared at the Royal Opera House, in a small role in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro,

Concert April Cantelo made ten appearances at the Proms between 1958 and 1973, beginning with the first performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana conducted by Basil Cameron.

Cantelo took part in the inaugural concert of the Purcell Room in London on 3 March 1967 ('Homage to Henry Purcell') with Robert Tear, Raymond Leppard and Bernard Richards.

In retirement, Cantelo settled in Oxfordshire. She trained an amateur choir, All Saints Singers at Sutton Courtenay, and invited former colleagues to sing solos in Masses by Haydn, Bach's Passions and oratorios by Telemann.

Recordings Cantelo recorded a wide repertoire. Among baroque works, she recorded Charpentier's Messe de minuit pour Noël with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge under David Willcocks (for EMI),

In classical and romantic music, she sang Servilia in the English-language performance of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito under John Pritchard, deputising for the indisposed Jennifer Vyvyan (Nimbus Prima Voce). She was the soloist in three Haydn Masses with St. John's College, Cambridge, forces and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under George Guest (Argo). She recorded part songs by Schubert (Argo, 1967),

Her recordings of music from the 20th century include excerpts from Ariadne auf Naxos, her stage debut, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham in Edinburgh in 1950 (Beecham Society WSA). She recorded roles by Britten with the composer conducting, Juliet in The Little Sweep (Decca, 1954) and Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring (Decca, 1964).

BBC studio recordings of Wagner's Die Feen (Ada) and Das Liebesverbot (Isabella) have subsequently been issued commercially by Deutsche Grammophon. She also recorded the well-loved Holly and the Ivy LP with Alfred Deller and the Deller Consort.