Meriel Dickinson, the mezzo-soprano who performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Welsh National Opera and was renowned for her interpretations of Kurt Weill, has died aged 86. Her voice was described by a friend as 'a lovely dark and lush velvet'.
Career Highlights
Dickinson performed in operas, oratorios, and premieres of new works with leading composers of the 20th century, including Benjamin Britten, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, and Aaron Copland, as well as conductors such as Adrian Boult and Simon Rattle. A career highlight was performing Beethoven's Choral Symphony at the 1969 Vienna festival under George Szell. She recalled: 'I was understandably nervous of Szell. His somewhat autocratic manner had been known to subdue the London Symphony Orchestra. However, in the end he was very charming, complimenting me on my voice and German pronunciation.'
Partnership with Brother Peter Dickinson
In the 1960s, Dickinson began a longstanding partnership with her brother, composer and pianist Peter Dickinson. They performed recitals, BBC broadcasts, and recordings, excelling in contemporary and experimental music. They championed composers such as Erik Satie, George Gershwin, and Charles Ives, and commissioned works from Lennox Berkeley and Andrzej Panufnik. Peter wrote several works for his sister, including song cycles to poems by EE Cummings.
Premieres and Opera Roles
Dickinson gave premieres of works such as Gordon Crosse's Memories of Morning: Night, a BBC commission performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis at the BBC Proms in 1973. Her opera and musical theatre appearances included Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with Welsh National Opera (1980) and Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Theatre Royal, York (1982).
Kurt Weill Revival
From the mid-1970s, Dickinson became a key figure in the Kurt Weill revival, acclaimed for her roles in Mahagonny Songspiel and Happy End in Berlin in 1975. Both works were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon with the London Sinfonietta conducted by David Atherton, who regarded her rendition of Weill's music as 'second to none'. In 1989, she played Emma Jones in Weill's Street Scene for Scottish Opera and English National Opera. Dickinson recalled: 'I enjoyed playing the vituperative Mrs Jones, but had some problems with my dog – the only time I have worked with an animal … The dog walked to the front of the stage and relieved herself. The audience … roared their approval.'
Early Life and Training
Born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, into a musical family, her father Frank Dickinson was an optometrist and pioneer in contact lenses, and her mother Muriel was a dramatic recitalist. In 1958, she entered the Royal Manchester College of Music (now Royal Northern College of Music). After graduating in 1963, she joined the BBC Singers in time for their Proms concert. A soprano colleague, Valerie Heath Davies, advised her to leave the Singers to study in Vienna with Hans Karg. On a scholarship, Dickinson trained at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, earning a distinction in the recital diploma.
Notable Performances and Teaching
In 1967, she toured Germany with tenor Peter Pears and the Schütz Choir conducted by Roger Norrington. She sang in Schumann's Scenes from Faust conducted by Britten, of whom she wrote: 'He was a perfectionist and, not working full time as a conductor, he would seem nervous and rather irritable if things did not go according to plan. The results were always superb.' In 1964, her London solo debut with the Park Lane Group prompted Andrew Porter in the Financial Times to call it 'a performance that one would have liked to take away on record'. She met her future husband, wig master Robert Gardner, in 1979 while performing at the Old Vic Theatre Company. They married in 1991. After retiring from performing in 1997, she taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Her friend Jill White described her as 'warm-hearted and extremely kind, with a wicked sense of humour'. Peter Dickinson died in 2023. Meriel is survived by her husband.
