Edith Furmedge
Edith Ellen Furmedge (London, 27 March 1890—London, 9 October 1956) was a British operatic contralto and singing teacher. After secondary school she attended Homerton College, Cambridge to train as a teacher. While in attendance she took up singing and abandoned a career in teaching. She studied with Dinh Gilly whom she eventually married on 2 June 1932. The first mention of Furmedge in the Musical Times from 1921 speaks of her as a participating soloist the Sheffield Amateur Musical Society. Endowed with a powerful voice she obtained small parts in Der Ring des Nibelungen at Covent Garden. She participated in early acoustic recordings of excerpts from The Ring. Reviewing one of her earliest performances, a highly astute critic in the Musical Times reported:
She sang regularly under Sir Henry Wood in London and at provincial festivals. By the 1930s she was appearing regularly as Erda and Fricka in The Ring. In addition to Wood, she sang under Thomas Beecham, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Albert Coates and others. She was a member of the British National Opera Company. Her participation in radio broadcasts helped raise her profile among the public. As noted in her obituary, "her impressive voice and majestic sense of style came over particularly well on the air." After a hiatus she returned to singing the Wagnerian roles in 1948–49. For many years she taught in the "music school" (actually their studio) her husband Dinh Gilly, had established, and continued teaching after his death in 1940. Her obituary in Opera magazine noted her "refreshing sense of calm" that she imparted to others. Furmedge's self-effacing character provided a sense of ease to her students and the many who came in contact with her. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 27, 1898 (London), Died October 9, 1956
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1922
Roles Represented in DAHR: mezzo-soprano
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gramophone | Cc2243 | 12-in. | 12/5/1922 | Alberich steals the gold—The dawn over Valhalla [Opening, scene 2] | Albert Coates ; Robert Radford ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] | Orchestra and vocal chorus, with bass vocal solo | vocalist, mezzo-soprano | |
Gramophone | Cc2244 | 12-in. | 12/5/1922 | Descent to Nibelheim—Capture of Alberich | Albert Coates ; Edith Furmedge ; Robert Radford ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] | Orchestra, mezzo-soprano and bass vocalists, and chorus | vocalist, mezzo-soprano | |
Gramophone | Cc2250 | 12-in. | 12/8/1922 | Brünnhilde gives Sieglinde the broken sword (Act 3) | Florence Austral ; Edith Furmedge ; Eugene Goossens ; Edward Halland ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] | Orchestra and vocal soloists | vocalist, mezzo-soprano |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Furmedge, Edith," accessed November 6, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/358826.
Furmedge, Edith. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 6, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/358826.
"Furmedge, Edith." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 6 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Edith Furmedge
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Furmedge, Edith - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2008176128
Wikidata: Edith Furmedge - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q88460207
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/61374085
ISNI: 0000 0000 4713 2730 - http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000047132730
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