Sybil Gordon

Gordon was born Sophia Solomon in Manchester.

Early in her career, Gordon won first prize at the 1923 Blackpool Music Competition, judged by Sir Steuart Wilson.The Manchester Guardian, 18 October 1923, p. 4 At this time, she was singing as a mezzo-soprano. The following year, as a soprano, she sang regularly in BBC broadcasts of songs by Walford Davies, Roger Quilter and others, and operatic arias by composers including Puccini and Massenet.The Times, 9 February 1924, p. 7; and 20 September 1924, p. 8; and The Manchester Guardian, 9 February 1924, p. 13; 2 June 1924, p. 9; 26 July 1924, p. 1; 29 July 1924, p. 1; 20 September 1924, p. 14; and 25 October 1924, p. 7 She also performed in a series of concerts in Manchester. The critic Samuel Langford wrote of her, "Her voice has a decided freshness and purity, and her interpretations, though not greatly varied, have confidence, alertness and charm.""Tuesday Midday Concerts", The Manchester Guardian, 30 July 1924, p. 11

Gordon joined the chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1926, singing on tour in England and Ireland and in a London season at the Prince's Theatre.Rollins and Witts, pp. 150–51 Beginning in 1927, she performed several soprano roles with the company: the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, Celia in Iolanthe, Lady Psyche in Princess Ida, Zorah in Ruddigore and Fiametta in The Gondoliers.Rollins and Witts, p. 152 Her performance with the company as Lady Psyche at the Savoy Theatre in 1929 was singled out by The Times for particular praise.The Times, 3 December 1929, p. 12 She sings Fiametta on the 1927 D'Oyly Carte recording of The Gondoliers.Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/gond1927.htm "The 1927 D'Oyly Carte Gondoliers"] at A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 8 November 2009 She also sang Celia in the radio broadcast of Iolanthe from the Savoy Theatre in February 1930.Webster, Chris. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narradio-doc.htm Original D'Oyly Carte Broadcasts] at A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 16 July 2005, accessed 8 November 2009 Gordon left the company at the end of the 1930 season, rejoining briefly in April 1931 as the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury.Rollins and Witts, pp. 152–55

In 1931, Gordon moved to Canada. There, from November 1931 to February 1932, she sang in radio broadcasts of all 13 extant Gilbert and Sullivan operas on the CBC, on the C-I-L-sponsored "Opera House of the Air".

She died in Hatch End, Middlesex, at the age of 79.

In the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Harold Abrahams's fiancée is misidentified as Sybil Gordon (portrayed by Alice Krige). In reality, his fiancée, whom he did not actually meet until a decade after the 1924 Olympics, was Sybil Evers, who sang small roles with D'Oyly Carte from 1930 to 1931.Chapman, James. [https://books.google.com/books?id=M6Wazi7wgAkC&pg=PA292 Past and Present: National Identity and the British Historical Film], London: I.B. Tauris, 2005, p. 292 Also in the film, "Sybil Gordon" is depicted as singing Yum-Yum in The Mikado; however, this was not a role that either Gordon or Evers sang with D'Oyly Carte.

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• Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1961). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. London: Michael Joseph.

• {{IMDb title|qid=Q207921|title=Chariots of Fire}}

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Category:English operatic sopranos

Category:20th-century English women opera singers

Category:English mezzo-sopranos

Category:1902 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:Singers from Manchester