Vaughan, Elizabeth
Vaughan, Elizabeth
Vaughan, Elizabeth, Welsh soprano, later mezzo-soprano; b. Llanfyellin, Montgomeryshire, March 12, 1937. She studied with Olive Groves at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1955-58), where she took the gold and silver medals, and also won the Kathleen Ferrier Scholarship (1959); she also studied privately with Eva Turner. In 1960 she sang Abigail in Nabuccowith the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. In 1962 she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Gilda. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Donna Elvira on Sept. 23,1972. She also appeared with other English opera companies and was a guest artist in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Prague, and other European opera centers. In 1984 she toured the U.S. with the English National Opera of London. After singing such roles as Violetta, Liù, Mimi, Tatiana, Tosca, and Cio-Cio-San, she turned to mezzo-soprano roles. In 1990 she appeared as Herodias at Glasgow’s Scottish Opera, returning there as Kabanicha in 1993. She also was a prof. of voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire