Howard, Ann (real name, Pauline Swadling)
Howard, Ann (real name, Pauline Swadling)
Howard, Ann (real name, Pauline Swadling), English mezzo-soprano; b. London, July 22, 1936. She was a student of Topliss Green and Rodolfa Lhombino. After singing in musical theater, she joined the chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, and was awarded a grant to pursue her training with Modesti in Paris. In 1964 she made her operatic debut as Azucena with the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff; that same year, she made her first appearance at the Sadler’s Wells Opera in London as Czipra in Der Zigeunerbaron, and subsequently appeared there regularly, and later with its successor, the English National Opera. In 1973 she made her Covent Garden debut as Amneris. As a guest artist, she sang in Europe, the U.S. (debut as Carmen in New Orleans, 1971), Canada, Mexico, and South Africa. Among her many roles were Fricka, Brangäne, Ortrud, Eboli, Clytemnestra, Dalila, Carmen, Offenbach’s Hélène, Herodiade, and Jocasta. She also sang in operetta and in contemporary operas.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire