Eilene Hannan

Eilene Hannan AM (24 July 194611 July 2014) was an Australian operatic soprano with an international reputation. She was particularly associated with opera sung in English, although she also sang in other languages. She was as well known as an actress as she was a singer. Her repertoire included Mozart's Pamina, Susanna, Cherubino, Dorabella and Zerlina; Mimì in Puccini's La bohème; Natasha Rostova in Prokofiev's War and Peace; Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin; Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio; Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande; Blanche in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites; the title roles in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová, Jenůfa and The Cunning Little Vixen; the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier; Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos; Pat Nixon in Adams' Nixon in China; Wagner's Sieglinde and Venus; Salome in Massenet's Hérodiade; and Monteverdi's Poppea. but her real interest was to make a difference in other people's lives in roles such as social worker or counsellor. She was discouraged from pursuing these careers due to her passionate nature and innate musical gifts. Her serious singing studies started only when she was 15. and Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1973 she created the role of Natasha Rostova in the Australian premiere of Sergei Prokofiev's opera War and Peace, the opera chosen as the inaugural production at the Sydney Opera House. Her British debut was at the Glyndebourne Festival in the title role of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. She also sang Natasha in London, and also at the Metropolitan Opera, New York during ENO's 1984 tour. Another triumph was the 1986 production of Dvořák's Rusalka under director David Pountney (available on DVD). and in the title role of Janáček's Káťa Kabanová.

She regularly sang with Victoria State Opera including La Boheme (Mimi) 1985 conducted by Richard Divall and Brian Stacey, Directed by John Copley; and Tannhaüser (Venus) 1989 conducted by Richard Divall, directed by Richard Cottrell both productions at the then relatively new State Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre. In 1996 she created the role of Emma in Richard Mills' opera Summer of the Seventeenth Doll with Victoria State Opera.

Her work continued both at home and internationally, singing under conductors such as Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Simon Rattle and Pierre Boulez. In 1989 she sang Hero in Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict with Opera North.

In the later part of her working life Hannan was a noted English and French language dialect coach, and conducted master classes for the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.

Family and personal life Her father George Hannan was a member of the Australian Senate for Victoria 1956-65 and again 1970-74, mostly representing the Liberal Party but in his final years as an independent.

Her elder sister Judith married Guy Boileau, later Sir Guy Boileau, 8th Baronet. Lady Boileau died on 9 August 2014, less than a month after Eilene. She also had two older brothers, Peter and Michael.

Eilene Hannan was the partner of the cellist Nathan Waks for a period in the 1970s. In England in 1980 she married Phillip Thomas, a Welsh pianist with ENO. They later divorced.