Elsie Griffin (December 6, 1895 – December 21, 1989) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She married another D'Oyly Carte performer, J. Ivan "Jimmy" Menzies in 1923. December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi   - Water (%) Population... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Savoy Operas are a series of operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ... The DOyly Carte Opera Company staged performances of Gilbert and Sullivans Savoy operas in the UK, Europe, America, South Africa and elsewhere from the nineteenth century to the twenty first. ...

Life and career

Elsie Griffin was born in Bristol, England. She made her debut during World War I with Lena Ashwell's Company, formed at the request of King George V singing concerts to entertain Britain's troops in France. The lyricist Frederick Weatherly, impressed by the beauty of her voice, brought her two of his songs, "Danny Boy" (to the traditional "A Londonderry Air") and "Roses of Picardy" (music by Haydn Wood), and she made them into two of the most popular hits of the era. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Greater Bristol. ... Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire French Empire Italy Russian Empire Kingdom of Serbia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria German Empire Ottoman Empire Commanders Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Ferdinand Foch Nikolay II Nikolay Yudenich Radomir Putnik Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Reinhard Scheer Franz Josef I Oskar... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 - 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, as a result of his creating it from the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... Frederick Edward Weatherly (1848-1929) was an English lawyer, author, songwriter and radio entertainer. ... Danny Boy is a love song from a woman to a man; providing one of many lyrics set to the tune of the Londonderry Air. ... The Londonderry Air is an anthem of Northern Ireland. ... Haydn Wood Haydn Wood (1882 - 1959) was a 20th century English composer and a respected violinist. ...

Griffin joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1919, immediately appearing on tour as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Kate in The Yeomen of the Guard, and Gianetta in The Gondoliers. She soon added (sometimes sharing) the roles of Aline in The Sorcerer, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Lady Ella in Patience, and Phyllis in Iolanthe. In 1921, she added the roles of Yum-Yum in The Mikado and Rose Maybud in Ruddigore. She continued to play or share the principal soprano roles, finally adding to her repertoire Casilda in The Gondoliers in 1926. In 1927, she left the company but returned from time to time to participate in recordings. H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts, with music by composer Arthur S. Sullivan and libretto by William S. Gilbert. ... The Yeomen of the Guard, or The Merryman and his Maid, is the eleventh of Gilbert and Sullivans operettas. ... The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Sorcerer The Sorcerer is the earliest surviving two-act Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ... Poster announcing the copyright performance at the Bijou Theatre, Paignton The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Ruddigore, or The Witchs Curse, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ...

She appeared briefly in 1929 at the Playhouse Theatre in The Rose and the Ring, and was a frequent performer in variety, concerts, oratorio, and broadcasting. She toured Britain in Wild Violets, and South Africa in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and in Lilac Time in 1933 with the J. C. Williamson company. From 1934 to 1937 she toured with the Carl Rosa Opera Company singing leading soprano parts in Die Fledermaus, The Barber of Seville, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, The Tales of Hoffman, Faust, and The Elixir of Love. Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... Carl August Nicholas Rosa (1843, Hamburg - April 30th 1889, Paris) was an English musical impresario, his family name (which he subsequently changed) being Rose. ... Scene from the 1984 version. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Poster from the 1875 premiere of Carmen Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. ... Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes dHoffmann) is an opera by Jacques Offenbach. ... Lelisir damore (The Elixir of Love) is a comic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on Eugène Scribes Le Philtre. ...

Her last stage appearance was in the Moral Re-Armament musical, The Vanishing Island, in which she toured around the world with her husband from 1955 until 1957. Moral Re-Armament (MRA, or sometimes Buchmanism) is an international movement that was founded as the Oxford Group by Frank N. D. Buchman (a prominent Christian Evangelist from the United States), and a group of Oxford students in the 1920s. ...

Griffin died in Blackheath, Surrey. Blackheath is the name of a number of places: Blackheath, London, England Blackheath, West Midlands, England Blackheath, New South Wales, Australia See also Blackheath Rugby Club – founded 1858. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. ...

Recordings

Already an established recording artist when she joined the company, Griffin's recordings with D'Oyly Carte included Rose Maybud and Zorah (1924 Ruddigore), and Yum-Yum (1926 The Mikado). She also sang Yum-Yum in a BBC radio broadcast that year. After she left the company, she was called back to record Mabel (1929 Pirates), Kate (1929 Yeomen), and Josephine (1930 Pinafore). Her 1929 recording of "Poor Wandering One" from the Pirates set was voted the best British gramophone solo that year, and when the set was reissued on LP in 1981, a New York Times critic wrote that her "secure coloratura and bell-like purity of tone" made her the definitive Mabel. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

In 1926 she appeared as Yum-Yum in a four-minute silent promotional film made of the D'Oyly Carte Mikado.

References

• Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.

Martyn Green (1899 - 1975) was an actor primarily known for his work in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. ...

External links

• Elsie Griffin at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
• Profile of Griffin