Elizabeth Fretwell

Betty Drina Fretwell (13 August 1920 – 5 June 2006), known professionally as Elizabeth Fretwell, was an Australian soprano. She was the prima donna at London's Sadler's Wells Opera (English National Opera) through much of the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life and career Elizabeth Fretwell was born in Murrumbeena, a suburb of Melbourne, on 13 August 1920. 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. Robert Simmons (they were later to marry), with whom she later had a son, John Simmons, now a Melbourne architect, and a daughter Geraldine 'Geri' Roggiero née Simmons now a Sydney wildlife artist. This caused a scandal in 1950s Australia so she and Simmons headed for the United Kingdom.

Sadler's Wells Once in Britain, Fretwell's first professional engagement was for Dublin's Grand Opera company. Her performances there came to the attention of Sadler's Wells and in 1955 they engaged her services as principal soprano. It 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. This was no small achievement given that at that time Maria Callas was dominant on the London opera stage. From the early 1960s to 1970 she went back and forth between Australia and the UK 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. On 5 June 2006, she died suddenly at her Bayview home, from a ruptured cerebral artery aneurysm, aged 85. She was survived by her son and daughter, and four grandchildren.