Patricia Leonard

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Patricia Leonard, (born c. 1943) is an English opera singer, best known for her performances in mezzo-soprano and contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She married another D'Oyly Carte performer, Michael Buchan.

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[edit] Life and career

Patricia Leonard was born in Stoke-on-Trent, and brought up in Stourbridge, Worcester, England. She studied at the Birmingham School of Music and then performed with the Midland Music Makers Grand Opera Society. Her roles there included Conchakovna in Prince Igor. She then sang with Sadler's Wells Opera for two years as a chorister and in concerts and oratorios before joining D'Oyly Carte as a chorister in 1970.[1]

[edit] D'Oyly Carte years

In 1971, she played her first principal role as Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer. She soon began filling in regularly as Edith in The Pirates of Penzance. In 1973 she added the roles of Leila in Iolanthe, Peep-Bo in The Mikado, Vittoria in The Gondoliers Cousin Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore, Edith, and Lady Saphir in Patience. She also filled in on occasion as Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer and Tessa in The Gondoliers. In 1975 she added to her repertory Elsa in the D'Oyly Carte Centenary concert production of The Grand Duke and Mad Margaret in Ruddigore. She also began to fill in as the title role in Iolanthe and Phoebe Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard. Leonard played the role of Hebe in the Royal command performance of H.M.S. Pinafore at Windsor Castle to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.

From 1977 until the company closed in 1982, Leonard was the principal contralto of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, playing Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer, Little Buttercup in Pinafore, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, Lady Jane in Patience, the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe, Lady Blanche in Princess Ida, Katisha in The Mikado, Dame Hannah in Ruddigore, Dame Carruthers in Yeomen, and the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers.

[edit] Later career

After the closure of D'Oyly Carte, Leonard has continued to perform in Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including as the Duchess in Gondoliers at Nottingham Playhouse, Katisha in The Mikado with New Sadler's Wells Opera, seven seasons in leading contralto parts with Phoenix Opera at Gawsworth Hall, and three operas (Mikado, Pinafore, and Pirates) in Norway.

Leonard has also returned to singing in concerts and oratorios, performing at Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican Arts Centre, Birmingham Symphony Hall, and St. David's Hall in Cardiff, Wales. She has also sung in concerts of opera, operetta, and music hall on world cruises for Cunard. Concert work has included G&S, Ivor Novello, Five Sing Broadway, "Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Sullivan" (with Richard Baker), "Here’s Yet Another How De Do" with David Steadman, and a series of The Proms evenings with the National Concert Orchestra. Leonard appears frequently with the Carl Rosa Opera Company and with "Much Loved Productions" in concerts of G&S and Rodgers and Hammerstein. Leonard has also appeared on BBC broadcasts and in plays, films and commercials.

Leonard and her husband, former D'Oyly Carte bass-baritone Michael Buchan, have also toured in Britain, America, Australia and New Zealand, including in the 2005-2006 Carl Rosa tour of America. They have also participated in several productions at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.

[edit] Recordings

Her recordings with D'Oyly Carte included Leila (1973 Iolanthe), Elsa (1976 Grand Duke), and Dame Carruthers (1979 Yeomen), and she appears on the company's "Last Night" recording. She also appears in the D'Oyly Carte film of H.M.S. Pinafore, made in 1973 at Elstree Studio and in the concert video "Gilbert & Sullivan's Greatest Hits" made at Royal Albert Hall in 1982.

[edit] References

  • Murray, Roderick (Ed). "A fascination that few can resist: An Interview with Patricia Leonard". The Gaiety (Spring 2005).  (pp. 6-19)
  1. ^ Information from biography in the 1976 D'Oyly Carte North American tour sourvenir program published by Raydell Publishing & Dristributing Corp., New York, 1976.

[edit] External links

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