'Sancta Cæcilia Rediviva'. Elizabeth Linley: Repertoire, Reputation and the English Voice. (12th November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aspden, Suzanne
• Is Part Of: Cambridge opera journal. Volume 27:Number 3(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 263
• Page End: 287
• Publication Date: 2015-11-12
• Subjects: Opera -- Periodicals; 782.1
• DOI: 10.1017/S0954586715000117
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-5867

Abstract

Abstract: In the early 1770s, Elizabeth Linley was, for a few short years, not just Britain's most celebrated singer, but also the subject of almost cult-like devotion. Her brief career demonstrated a general awareness on the part of audience, singer and managers alike of the value of enmeshing of art, voice and life in the construction of a successful public persona. The extraordinary adulation she inspired suggests more than just canny use of publicity, however: her cultivation of an apparently distinctive sound and association with a particular repertoire – Handelian oratorio – at a time when Handel was particularly revered suggests British interest in the development of a national musical voice, as well as repertoire.