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Margaret Valerie Masterson (born 3 June 1937), is a retired English opera singer, a lecturer and Vice-President of British Youth Opera. After study in Italy, she began to sing opera in Europe. Returning to England, Masterson performed as principal soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1964 to 1969, becoming popular with audiences and participating in several of the company's recordings, as well as those of Gilbert and Sullivan for All and the BBC. She next joined English National Opera and went on to an international opera career lasting more than three decades. Although she performed a wide variety of roles, she was best known for her roles in the French repertoire and the works of Handel, as well as Gilbert and Sullivan. Her recordings include, in addition to many opera roles, operettas and musical theatre. She has been awarded a CBE and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music. ==Early career and D'Oyly Carte== Masterson was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, and studied at the Matthay School of Music (Liverpool) and at the Royal College of Music.〔Stone, David. ("Valerie Masterson", ) ''Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (1875-1982)'', accessed 10 May 2009〕 She received good reviews for her student performances. ''The Times'' commented on her "welcome freshness", though on another occasion it found fault with her attempt at a Scottish accent in a Robert Burns evening at the Wigmore Hall, calling it "more of Kensington than Kilmarnock". Nevertheless, the paper judged her "good to listen to" and "intelligent".〔''The Times'', 28 June 1961, p. 5; 20 December 1961, p. 7; and 30 May 1962, p. 5〕 She studied for a year in Milan with the soprano Adelaide Saraceni, but her most important teacher was the London-based tenor Eduardo Asquez.〔Asquez's other pupils included Marie Collier, Rosalind Plowright and Anthony Michaels-Moore. See obituary of Asquez by Elizabeth Forbes, ''The Independent'', 1 October 1998〕 She made her debut as Frasquita in Bizet's ''Carmen'' in Salzburg with the Landestheatre Opera Company, where she spent a season in 1963 singing roles in Italian, French and German operas.〔Eriksson, Erik. (Valerie Masterson profile ), AllMusic; accessed 14 May 2009〕 The following year, she returned to England, performing in concerts, including two Promenade Concerts with Sir Malcolm Sargent. She later recalled, "I remember Sir Malcolm Sargent plucking me out of the Royal College of Music to do some Proms as a student – can you imagine that happening nowadays? – and saying to me 'Your quiet singing will make your fortune'".〔Interview in ''The Gramophone'', September 1999, p. 16〕 The music critics commended "a team of soloists led by a newcomer, Miss Valerie Masterson, with particularly pure and radiant soprano tone" in the ''Serenade to Music''.〔''The Times'', 20 August 1964, p. 12〕〔Greenfield, Edward. ''The Guardian'', 23 August 1964, p. 7; ''The Musical Times'', October 1964, p. 753〕 Masterson joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a principal soprano in 1964.〔 After a performance as Mabel in ''The Pirates of Penzance'', ''The Guardian'' commented, "It is Valerie Masterson's Mabel that makes one revise ideas on D'Oyly Carte standards. It is a long time since the company had so strong a soprano lead." Other critics agreed: ''The Times'' criticised D'Oyly Carte vocal standards in 1968 but called Masterson and Kenneth Sandford "shining exceptions."〔''The Times'', 31 January 1968, p. 7〕 She remained with D'Oyly Carte for five years, where her major roles were Mabel; Josephine in ''H.M.S. Pinafore''; Phyllis in ''Iolanthe''; Lady Psyche, and subsequently the title role, in ''Princess Ida''; Yum-Yum in ''The Mikado''; Elsie Maynard in ''The Yeomen of the Guard''; and Casilda in ''The Gondoliers''. She appeared as Yum-Yum in the company's 1966 film version of ''The Mikado''.〔Shepherd, Marc. ("The 1966 D'Oyly Carte ''Mikado'' Film" ). ''A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography'', 15 April 2009, accessed 16 July 2014〕 She left the company in 1969 but often returned for guest appearances.〔 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「Valerie Masterson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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