Fanny Moody

Frances "Fanny" Moody (23 November 1866–21 July 1945) was an operatic soprano of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, billed as 'The Cornish Nightingale'. In 1898 with her husband, the bass Charles Manners, she formed the Moody-Manners Opera Company, dedicated to presenting opera in English. The Moody-Manners company performed in London, the British provinces, North America and South Africa, with Moody often in the leading soprano roles, from 1898 to 1916.

Moody created leading roles in several operas, including the title roles in Corder's Nordisa (1887) and Pizzi's Rosalba (1902) and Militza in McAlpin's The Cross and the Crescent (1903). In 1892 she appeared at the Olympic Theatre in London as Tatyana in the British premiere of Eugene Onegin, conducted by Henry Wood, with her husband as Gremin.

Early life

Frances Moody was born in Redruth, Cornwall, in 1866, one of thirteen children of Eliza and James Hawke Moody (1823–1887), a photographer. In the 1881 Census aged 16 she was listed as an assistant teacher of music to her older sister, Maria. Her youngest sister, Hilda Moody, also had a successful career as a soprano and actress. It was said that her father could play any instrument he had ever seen.

Much of her career was spent touring in the British provinces and abroad. With limited capital at their disposal (Manners later stated that they founded the company on £1,700 borrowed from friends, and repaid it all within a year), they began with a provincial tour, starting in Manchester in September 1898. Moody was the company's leading soprano.

By 1902 there were two Moody-Manners touring companies, one with 175 members and the other with 95. The larger of the two gave London seasons in 1902 and 1903 at Covent Garden, in 1904 at the Drury Lane, and in 1907 and 1908 at the Lyric Theatre, when the repertoire included The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Marriage of Figaro, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, Faust, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly, There were Moody-Manners tours not only of Britain but also of North America and South Africa. In 1911 Moody appeared on the music hall circuit.

Moody and Manners retired to Dundrum in County Dublin, where she died in 1945.