Sinclair, Monica
Sinclair, Monica
Sinclair, Monica, English mezzo-soprano; b. Evercreech, Somerset, March 23, 1925. She studied voice with Marcus Thomson and piano with Harold Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music (1942–44), and voice with Arnold Smith, piano with Olive Bloom, and accompaniment with Charles Lofthouse at the Royal Coll. of Music (1944–48) in London. In 1948 she made her operatic debut as Suzuki with the Carl Rosa Opera Co., a role she also chose for her debut at London’s Covent Garden in 1949, where she sang until 1967. In 1954 she appeared as Ragonde in Le Comte Ory with the Glynde-bourne company during its visit to the Edinburgh Festival, and she continued to make appearances with the Glyndebourne company until 1960. She also made frequent appearances with the Handel Opera Soc. On March 14, 1972, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Berkenfield in La Fille du régiment. She was best known for her roles in operas by Lully, Mozart, Rossini, and Strauss.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire