Opera World Loses Two Luminaries

SoundsLikeSydney reports the sad loss of two luminaries of the opera world – soprano and voice coach Eilene Hannan and Opera Australia Italian language coach Renata Fresia-Verdino.

Eilene Hannan passed away in London last week aged 67. Her roles for OA included the Marschallin and Katya Kabanova. She also sang the role of Natasha in Prokofiev’s War and Peace in the opening season at the Sydney Opera House. 

More recently, she provided voice and language coaching for the singers in the recording of Peggy Glanville-Hick’s opera Sappho. Read more.

Renato Fresia- Verdino joined the company in 1989 and over the years, “built up a substantial reputation as a technician, well able to analyse voices and pinpoint vocal problems through language.” Read more.