Concert 2019Classical Musicians Scotland
Read more about the opera Ethelinda
There will also be a performance of extracts from 1 - 2pm, Saturday 19 November 2019 as part of the Spire concert series. In Janusry 1990, Renfield st Stephens was joined with Anderston Kelvinggrove and rebranded as St Andrews West Church, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4JP,
featuring Catriona Clark, Matthew Kimble, Douglas Nairne, Francis Church and Derek Clark.
It is hoped that Glamis Castle will host the full opera with cast, chorus and orchestra in 2020
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Lady Mildred (Bowes Lyon) Jessup, daughter of the 13th Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Great-Aunt of HM The Queen, composed Ethelinda, an opera which was performed in Florence in April 1894.
Born at Glamis Castle on 6th October 1868, Lady Mildred married Augustus Jessup at her family home in 1890. In 1893 Augustus purchased Lenzburg Castle in Switzerland, which he lavishly restored and refurbished, installing a music salon for his talented wife, where it is likely she composed her opera. Entitled Ethelinda, it was performed under the nom de plume ‘M. Marion’ in Florence in front of HRH Princess Beatrice, who praised it highly. The identity of the composer was not disclosed until the second night, when in response to enthusiastic calls from the audience, Lady Mildred appeared before the curtain and bowed her acknowledgement. Sadly, she died in 1897, aged just 28, of unknown causes (generally assumed to be of tuberculosis), three years before her niece, Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon (later HM The Queen Mother) was born.
Dr Tommy Fowler discovered the piano score and has meticulously researched Mildred’s music. With the aid of Classical Musicians Scotland, performances were held of "Ethelinda - extracts from a forgotten opera" in March and April 2019 in the Drawing Room at Glamis Castle.