AV News 182 - November 2010
She had a rose named in her
honour in 1952, as did Queen
Elizabeth. It took a long time to
track down a photo of one.
There is a KF memorial near
the house where she was born,
with KF roses planted, but it had
not been pruned and was not in
flower when I went there specially
to photograph them!
Eventually a rose grower's
catalogue helped me out.
She made many records, but
quality in that era was not great,
although most have now been digitally remastered and CDs are still
available. I still had to re-edit the sound before I could use some passages in
my sequence.
Her most famous recording is probably 'What is Life to me without thee?'
from Orfeo and Euridice, which I only wanted to use at the very end, as it is
such a sad song. As a child it always made me cry and I found it difficult
editing it, although I did get used to it after several hours of tweaking.
Whilst I was making the sequence, but on holiday in Alaska trying to
photograph bears catching salmon, I was astonished to discover that an
elderly lady in the group had been present at Kathleen's last performance at
Covent Garden in 1953. She said the curtain calls at the end were
heartbreaking - everyone knew Kathleen was unwell and wanted to show
their appreciation, but at the same time she was clearly desperate to get off
the stage for medical help.
A true Diva to the end!
Adelaide AVFest
The 10th Adelaide International Audio Visual (Diaporama) Festival
conducted by The South Australian Photographic Federation Inc.
will be held on 25, 26 & 27 March, 2011
Judges : Richard Venus BTech, BA (Chair),
Ron Willems AFIAP,ARPS,FPSNZ,AAPS and Keith Seidel AAPS
Closing Date for Entries 4th February 2011
Further details and Entry Forms available on www.avnews.org.uk
or from the Sectretary Neil Gray
UK & European Entrants may contact Ron Davies
Page 19