Labbette, Dora

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Labbette, Dora

Labbette, Dora, English soprano; b. Purley, March 4, 1898; d. there, Sept. 3, 1984. She received training at the Guildhall School of Music in London. From 1917 she was active as an oratorio singer and recitalist. After making her operatic debut as Telaire in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in Oxford (1934), she took Beecham’s advice and adopted the professional name of Lisa Perli. In 1935 she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Mimi. In 1937 she made guest appearances in Berlin, Munich, and Dresden, and then sang once more at Covent Garden until 1939. Her final London engagement was as Mimi at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in 1943. Among her other admired roles were Marguerite, Mignon, Desdemona, and Mélisande.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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