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Helen Florence Roberts (15 July 1912 – 12 December 2010), later known as Betty Roberts and by her married name, Betty Walker, was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After beginning her career touring in Italy and then England in grand opera, Roberts joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a principal soprano in 1938. She remained with that company for ten years, marrying another company member, the baritone Richard Walker, in 1944. After four more years of theatre in Britain, the couple moved to the US, where they presented Gilbert and Sullivan in two-person entertainments throughout North America. They then moved to Australia, where they joined the J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company. They toured with Williamson in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They also appeared in musicals, including a four-year engagement in the original Australian production of ''My Fair Lady''. After her husband's death in 1989, she returned to England. ==Early life and career== Roberts was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. Her father was a surveyor for Lloyd's of London.〔Hoare, Colin. ''Gilbert & Sullivan News'', "An Interview with Helen Roberts", Spring 2003, Vol. 3, No. 7〕 She was educated at the Bruton School for Girls,〔Stone, David. (Helen Roberts ) at ''Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company'', 16 December 2010〕 before her father moved Helen, her two sisters, Joan and Sheila, and brother Denis, to Naples Italy for five years immediately after World War I. Helen returned to England, to finish her schooling, and then studied music at the Royal Academy of Music, privately〔 and later in Italy. She toured in Italy with the Milan Opera Company, singing the role of Norina in ''Don Pasquale'' by Donizetti. After returning to England, she toured in Offenbach's ''The Tales of Hoffman'' as the Doll and Antonia and also sang briefly in the chorus of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera.〔 In September 1938, Roberts was engaged by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a principal soprano.〔Rollins and Witts, p. 163〕 She began to perform there under the name Betty Roberts, but Rupert D'Oyly Carte soon asked her to change it to something more fitting to a leading lady, and she returned to her birth forename.〔 During her decade of performing with the D'Oyly Carte company, she appeared regularly as Josephine in ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', Mabel in ''The Pirates of Penzance'', the title character in ''Princess Ida'', Elsie Maynard in ''The Yeomen of the Guard'', and Gianetta in ''The Gondoliers''. She soon added the role of Phyllis in ''Iolanthe'' to her repertoire. She sometimes also played as Yum-Yum in ''The Mikado'' and briefly played the title character in ''Patience''.〔Rollins and Witts, pp. 163–72〕 This was the longest continuous D'Oyly Carte career of any of the company's principal sopranos.〔Rollins and Witts, ''passim''. A few principal sopranos served the company over a longer span of years, but not continuously; a few women served for longer but did not sing the principal soprano roles continuously.〕 ''The Times'' repeatedly praised her singing and appearance,〔See, e.g., "Princes Theatre, Gilbert and Sullivan", ''The Times'', 16 June 1942; p. 2; "Princes Theatre, ''Iolanthe''", ''The Times'', 19 June 1942; p. 6; and "Sadler's Wells Theatre, Gilbert and Sullivan", ''The Times'', 22 July 1947; p. 6.〕 and ''The Manchester Guardian'', reviewing the company's 1941 tour, wrote, "One of the chief pleasures of last night's performance was the lovely voice of Miss Helen Roberts."〔"Pirates of Penzance", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 14 November 1941, p. 6〕 During the war, Roberts also sang in concerts and on the radio in aid of public morale.〔 Roberts married fellow company member Richard Walker on 31 July 1944.〔 Earlier that month, the two found themselves very close to an exploding German rocket near Piccadilly Circus, as they approached a restaurant. They were not seriously hurt, but just before they went on stage that evening as Wilfred and Elsie in ''The Yeomen of the Guard'', Walker proposed marriage.〔"Helen Betty Roberts Walker 1912–2010", ''The Palace Peeper'', The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York, Vol. LXXV, No. 5, p. 3, January 2011〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Helen Roberts」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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