Around the Music Festival

British Soprano Singer Felicity Lott passed away on May 15th at her home in the South Downs, southern England. She was 79 years old. One of Britain’s leading opera singers, she performed in opera houses around the world. Last week, she announced that she had terminal cancer, and three days prior, she had appeared on the radio to talk about her battle with the disease.

She was born in Cheltenham, a resort town in south-central England. She began playing piano and violin at the age of five and started vocal lessons at the age of twelve. After earning degrees in French and Latin from Royal Holloway, University of London, she studied in France, where she spent two years studying vocal music at the Grenoble Conservatory. Upon returning to England, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music.

She made her singing debut in 1975, singing the role of Pamina in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at the English National Opera, and the following year she made her Royal Opera debut in the world premiere of Henze’s “We Came to the River.” She quickly became one of the Royal Opera’s supporting singers, and with her tall stature and dignified presence, she frequently appeared in roles of nobility.

At the Royal Opera, she has performed roles such as Blanche in Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” Ellen Orford in Britten’s “Peter Grimes,” Eva in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” and the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier.”

Meanwhile, after being rejected three times by the Glidebourne Festival choir, she made her debut in 1976 singing the role of the Countess in Richard Strauss’s “Capriccio,” and at the 1977 festival, she sang Octavian, not the Marschallin, 40 times in “Der Rosenkavalier.” Since then, she has appeared regularly, singing numerous roles including Anne Truelove in Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” and the title role in Lehár’s “The Merry Widow.”

She made her debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1993 as the Countess in Richard Strauss’s *Capriccio*. The following year, she sang the Marschallin under the baton of Carlos Kleiber, a role that became her greatest success. This performance was released on DVD, and shortly thereafter, she sang under Kleiber’s direction again during the Vienna State Opera’s tour of Japan, leaving an unforgettable impression on Japanese audiences.

She has also actively appeared in operettas, singing roles such as Rosalinde in Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus,” and the title roles in Offenbach’s “Die Belle Hélène” and “Grand Duchess Gerolstein.”

Meanwhile, she has gained international acclaim as a concert singer, performing at numerous international music festivals including the BBC Proms and the Salzburg Festival. She also served as a soloist on the original soundtrack for the film “Amadeus,” which won eight Academy Awards.

She had a long and successful singing career, and in 2019 she ventured into musicals, receiving critical acclaim for her portrayal of Heidi Schiller in Sondheim’s *Follies*. Her last opera appearance was in 2024, when she sang the role of the Duchess of Krakentorp in Donizetti’s *La Fleurs du Regiment* at the Paris National Opera. In May 2025, at the age of 77, she gave her final solo recital at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris.

In the UK, she was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1996. In addition, she was awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the French government in 2001 and the title of “Court Singer” by the Bavarian government in 2003.

PHOTO：Opéra National de Lyon