Difference between revisions of "Nellie du Toit"
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While on tour in the United Kingdom in 1953-1954, du Toit performed in ''[[Così fan tutte]]'' (as Fiordiligi); ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]'' (as Susanna); and ''[[La cenerentola]]'' (as Clorinde). | While on tour in the United Kingdom in 1953-1954, du Toit performed in ''[[Così fan tutte]]'' (as Fiordiligi); ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]'' (as Susanna); and ''[[La cenerentola]]'' (as Clorinde). | ||
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| + | Du Toit sang in forty-five opera seasons for the [[Performing Arts Councils]] in the seventeen years between 1963 and 1979, when her opera career ended. In 1986, she returned to the opera stage as the Marschallin in ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' by Richard Strauss. This was also her final farewell as opera singer. | ||
Her repertoire of opera roles in South Africa (from 1957 to 1986) was as follows: | Her repertoire of opera roles in South Africa (from 1957 to 1986) was as follows: | ||
Revision as of 13:20, 19 June 2025
Nellie du Toit (1929-2018) is a well-known South African soprano.
Contents
Biography
She died in Stellenbosch in August 2018.
Training
Her full-time music studies took place at the South African College of Music in Cape Town, from 1950 to 1952. Here her singing teacher Madame Adelheid Armhold and Gregorio Fiasconaro, head of the Opera School, were influential in laying the foundations for her career. She also undertook drama training under Leonard Schach and Rosalie van der Gucht. The latter training was particularly useful in her work as an opera singer.
Du Toit's repertoire of operas sung in student performances (1950-1953) included: Beatrice et Benedict (Hero); The Telephone (Lucy); The Medium (Monica); La serva padrona (Serpina); Gianni Schicchi (Lauretta); Suor Angelica (Angelica); Dido and Aeneas (Dido); Il segreto di Susanna (Susanna).
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
Making her career almost exclusively in South Africa, she became one of South Africa's most illustrious opera singers of the 1960's and 1970s. In addition she proved to be a highly sought after voice teacher for over 40 years.
While on tour in the United Kingdom in 1953-1954, du Toit performed in Così fan tutte (as Fiordiligi); Le nozze di Figaro (as Susanna); and La cenerentola (as Clorinde).
Du Toit sang in forty-five opera seasons for the Performing Arts Councils in the seventeen years between 1963 and 1979, when her opera career ended. In 1986, she returned to the opera stage as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. This was also her final farewell as opera singer.
Her repertoire of opera roles in South Africa (from 1957 to 1986) was as follows:
- Asterion (Prinses)
- Norma (Norma)
- Carmen (Micaëla)
- Lucia di Lammermoor (Lucia)
- Martha (Lady Harriet Durham)
- Andrea Chénier (Madeleine)
- Faust (Marguerite)
- Jenůfa (Jenůfa)
- In the Drought (Elsie)
- Der Wildschütz (Baronin Freimann)
- Le nozze di Figaro (Contessa Almaviva)
- Don Giovanni (Donna Annna)
- Die Zauberflöte (Pamina)
- Die Zauberflöte (Königin der Nacht)
- Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San)
- Turandot (Liù)
- La bohème (Mimì)
- La bohème (Musetta)
- Tosca (Tosca)
- Prodaná nevěsta (Mařenka)
- Der Rosenkavalier (Marschallin)
- Il trovatore (Leonora)
- La traviata (Violetta)
- Otello (Desdemona)
Nellie du Toit also appeared in The Desert Song (as Margot), The Student Prince (as Kathy) and Die Fledermaus (as Rosalinde).
Awards
Nellie du Toit was awarded The Medal of Honour by the South African Academy of Arts and Sciences (30 September 1986); and an Honorary Doctorate in Music was conferred on her by Stellenbosch University on 8 December 1998.
Sources
Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow[1]. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.[2]
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