<<  -- 5 --  Jennifer Paull    A musical enchantress

Many outstanding figures of the twentieth century composed especially for her. Stravinsky wrote Elegy for JFK after being inspired by her voice and artistry. William Walton created a special version of Façade -- the list is long. Yet this Grande Damme of the avant-garde could act the part of a salon singer in Paris in the late 19th century, or an insufficiently trained oratorio singer in the Mid West in the late 1960's. She sang and recorded the Beatles in clever arrangements à la Handel, and brought down the house with her impersonations of Florence Foster Jenkins.

Typical of the fun person she was, Cathy loved a good joke! I remember being with her during a recording at the Maida Vale studios with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her hair was a mop of white curls and the musicians had fondly bestowed the nickname of 'Harpo' upon her. I told her when I heard of this, and she was delighted! For quite some time after that, she signed her letters proudly with her new nickname.

The experience of her lifetime; the lessons in Armenian dance during her youth in the United States, the work with Luciano Berio for whom she was such an inspiration, the discovery of new vocal techniques and the re-gilding of the old as she brought Monteverdi to life with passion and no dust; these were the ingredients of her magic spells. Not one aspect stood alone, uninfluenced by the effect and the investment in the others.

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