Agnes Nicholls

Agnes Nicholls (July 14, 1877 - September 21, 1959), was one of the greatest English sopranos of the early twentieth century, both in the concert hall and on the operatic stage.

She was born in Cheltenham. She received her early education at Bedford High School where she started singing lessons with Dr H. Alfred Harding. In 1894 she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music where her teacher was Albert Visetti. During her student years she took the part of Dido in Purcell’s "Dido and Aeneas", and sang three times in front of Queen Victoria at private functions. Her operatic roles included Dewman in "Hänsel und Gretel", Venus in "Tannhäuser", Sieglinde in "Die Walküre", Brünnhilde in "Siegfried" and many others. She was a frequent performer at Covent Garden until 1924, and was a principal of the British National Opera Company. In 1904 she married Hamilton Harty who was to become famous as the conductor of the Hallé Orchestra. Harty was a very fine accompanist and he accompanied his wife frequently in song recitals. He was also a gifted composer, and Agnes Nicholls was the soloist in his composition Ode to a Nightingale in the 1907 Cardiff Festival. This was repeated in the same year at a Promenade Concert. She sang in many oratorios including Parry’s "Judith" and Bach’s "St Matthew Passion". Sir Henry Wood described her as “a great artist with a beautiful voice (which) seemed to have been made for Bach’s arias”.

She died in London.

References

*The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (MacMillen 1980) ISBN 0-333-23111-2
*My Life of Music by Henry J. Wood (London, Victor Gollancz Ltd 1938)
*A Century of Challenge – Bedford High School 1882-1982 ed Joyce Godber and Isabel Hutchins ISBN 0-9508303-0-5