Jacqueline Dark
Jacqueline Dark | |
---|---|
Born | 1967 or 1968 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
Died | (aged 55) Sydney, Australia |
Other names | Jacqueline Moran |
Occupation | Opera singer (mezzo-soprano) |
Years active | 2000–2023 |
Website | jacquelinedark.com |
Jacqueline Lisa Dark[1] (also Jacqueline Moran;[2] 1967 or 1968 – 3 October 2023) was an Australian operatic mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
She was born in Ballarat and attended the University of Ballarat from 1986 to 1988, receiving a Bachelor of Science (Physics) and a Graduate Diploma of Education in 1989, and worked teaching in Ballarat.[3][1]
Dark trained at the Victorian College of the Arts where she received first class honours in the Graduate Diploma of Opera in 1995.
Performance
Dark performed with Opera Australia, Victorian State Opera, and was young artist for Opera Queensland in 2000. At the Vienna State Opera, she performed the roles of Giovanna in Verdi's Rigoletto, Grimgerde in Wagner's Die Walküre, Annina in Verdi's La traviata, Mercedes in Bizet's Carmen, Pastore (shepherd) in Puccini's Tosca,[1] Ines in Verdi's Il trovatore and Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto.[4] She returned to Australia in 2002.[1]
At Opera Australia, she performed as Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff, Lady Billows in Britten's Albert Herring, and both Fricka and Second Norne in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in 2013. She added Filippyevna in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Emilia in Verdi's Otello, and Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni to her repertoire in 2014, Amneris in Verdi's Aida and Marcellina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 2015, and the Countess in Shostakovitch's The Nose in 2018.[4] In 2012, Jacqueline Dark appeared as Herodias in Opera Australia's new production of Salome by Richard Strauss. and won the Green Room Award for Outstanding Principal Female in Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.[4]
She performed as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana for the State Opera of South Australia, winning a Curtain Call award in the category Best Female Performance,[4] the soprano title role in the Australian premiere of Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna,[4] with Kanen Breen as the Journalist,[5] at the 2017 Adelaide Festival, Berenice in Vivaldi's Farnace for the Pinchgut Opera, Mrs Sedley in Britten's Peter Grimes for the Brisbane Festival, the Old Lady in Bernstein's Candide for the New Zealand Opera, Anne in Tom Waits' The Black Rider for the Malthouse Theatre and the Victorian Opera.[4]
Her repertoire also included the roles of the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos by R. Strauss, the title role in Carmen, Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, the title role and Tisbe in Rossini's La Cenerentola (for which she won another Green Room Award), Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Rosmira in Handel's Partenope, Maurya in Riders to the Sea), Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto, Annina in Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss, Pitti-Sing/Katisha in The Mikado, and Mary in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer.[4]
Dark performed the role of Sally Lowe in the world premiere of Moya Henderson's Lindy and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Iolanthe for Opera Australia, and covered the role of Pearl in the world premiere of Richard Mills' Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.
She also performed in music theatre, cabaret, theatre restaurant and the concert podium. She appeared as a soloist with groups including the Melbourne Chorale, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (concert series), Orchestra Victoria, the Australian National Academy of Music, the Royal Philharmonic Society, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.[4] She performed the alto solo in Rossini's Stabat Mater for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Dark joined the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra along with Trisha Crowe, Michael Falzon, Amanda Harrison and others to record I Dreamed a Dream: Hit Songs from Broadway for ABC Classics in 2013.[6]
Personal life
Dark and "her best friend", Kanen Breen, who is gay, co-parented her son.[7][8]
Dark died on 3 October 2023, at the age of 55, having been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer the year before.[8]
Recordings
For Opera Australia and CinemaLive – DVD and CD recordings:
- The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
- Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss)
- The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan)
- Don Giovanni (Mozart)
For Opera Australia and ABC:
- Lindy (Henderson)
For the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and ABC Classics (as part of a compilation)[6]
- I Dreamed a Dream – Hit Songs From Broadway – "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music
For Greg Gould’s album of duets, 1998:
Awards
Among Dark's major competition achievements are winning the Shell Aria in 1993, Fletcher Jones Memorial Aria and Memorial Aria both in 1994, Ringwood Aria and Geelong Aria both in 1997, Herald Sun Aria in both 1998 and 2000, finalist in McDonald's Operatic Aria in both 1999 and 2000, National Liederfest in 2000.[1]
She achieved a Victorian Theatre Guild Award (Performance of Distinction) in 1989, a Royal Opera House studio scholarship in 1998, the Vienna State Opera Award of 2000, an overseas study grant by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 2001, and two Green Room Awards for her role of Tisbe in Opera Australia's La Cenerentola in 2004 and as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in 2011.[1] Dark won the award for Best Female Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera at the 2013 Helpmann Awards for her role as Herodias in Opera Australia's Salome[4] and was nominated in the 2014 Helpmann Award Best in the same category for The Melbourne Ring Cycle.[4][9]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f "Dark, Jacqueline Lisa", Federation University Australia Honour Roll
- ^ "Lindy" (PDF) (performance flyer). Opera Australia. October 2002. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Togher, Patrick (5 October 2023). "Opera star who conquered TV and the Opera House dies at 55". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Jacqueline Dark". Opera Australia. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Tracey Korsten (19 March 2017). "Festival Review: Prima Donna/Rufus Does Judy". Glam Adelaide. Retrieved 5 October 2023.; Louise Nunn (14 March 2017). "Rufus Wainwright brings Prima Donna and Rufus Does Judy to the Adelaide Festival". The Advertiser. Adelaide. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b "I Dreamed a Dream – Hit Songs From Broadway". ABC Music. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ Stephen Lacey (22 June 2013). "Two of us: Jacqui Dark and Kanen Breen". The Sydney Morning Herald (interview). Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b Blake, Jason (4 October 2023). "Opera star and cabaret singer Jacqueline Dark has died". Limelight. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ "Helpmann Awards 2014 Nominations" (PDF). Helpmann Awards. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Jacqueline Dark, Patrick Togher Artists' Management
- Jacqueline Dark discography at Discogs
- Jacqueline Dark at IMDb
- "Jacqueline Dark", articles at Limelight