Obituary,
Pamela Helen Stephen (1965-2021)
The British mezzo Pamela Helen Stephen, who recorded extensively for Chandos, has died aged 57.
Born in Solihull, Stephen trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and subsequently in Colorado and Toronto. She made her professional opera debut at Wexford in Nicholas Maw’s The Rising of the Moon in 1990, and her Welsh National Opera debut as Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard (a role which she also recorded for Sir Charles Mackerras). She went on to perform regularly with UK companies including Opera North (where highlights included Purcell’s Dido, Handel’s Giulio Cesare, and Lazuli in Chabrier’s L’étoile), English National Opera (as Penelope in Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, Suzuki in Madam Butterfly and Christina in Weinberg’s The Passenger), and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (as Annina in La traviata, Hécube in Les Troyens and Moppet/Goose in Britten’s Paul Bunyan). Further afield, significant engagements included the title-role in Carmen for Opera Australia, Maddalena (Rigoletto) in Los Angeles, and Octavian at the Spoleto Festival.
Stephen was married to the conductor Richard Hickox, with whom she often recorded for Chandos; their discography together includes a series of Haydn masses, Britten’s Albert Herring and Owen Wingrave, Vaughan Williams’s Riders to the Sea, The Poisoned Kiss and The Pilgrim’s Progress, Menotti’s Martin’s Lie and The Saint of Bleecker Street, and Prokofiev’s War and Peace. She also appeared frequently at the St Endellion Festival (which Hickox founded in 1973), in roles including Auntie in Peter Grimes (2008) and Carmen (2013). Her awards and honours included Scottish Opera's John Noble Award, the Caird Scholarship, and the the Countess of Munster Award.
Stephen died on 30th November following a long illness; she is survived by her partner Stephen Lumsden and her two children Adam (Assistant Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra) and Abigail.
Pamela Helen Stephen - a selected discography
Peter Coleman-Wright (Owen Wingrave), Pamela Helen Stephen (Kate), Robin Leggate (Sir Philip Wingrave/Narrator), Elizabeth Connell (Miss Wingrave), Janice Watson (Mrs. Coyle), Sarah Fox (Mrs. Julien), Alan Opie (Spencer Coyle), James Gilchrist (Lechmere)
City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
James Gilchrist (Albert), Pamela Helen Stephen (Nancy), Roderick Williams (Sid), Stephen Richardson (Mr Budd), Rebecca Evans (Miss Wordsworth), Alan Opie (Mr Gedge), Anne Collins (Mum), Susan Bullock (Lady Billows), Sally Burgess (Florence Pike)
City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Pamela Helen Stephen (Angelica), Roderick Williams (Gallanthus), Janice Watson (Tormentilla), Neal Davies (Dipsacus), Anne Collins (Empress Persicaria), James Gilchrist (Amaryllus)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Adrian Partington Singers, Richard Hickox
Available Formats: 2 SACDs, MP3, FLAC
Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo), Mark Padmore (tenor), Ryan Wigglesworth (piano) RSVP Voices
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo), Northern Sinfonia, Howard Griffiths
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Julia Melinek (Annina), Timothy Richards (Michele), Pamela Helen Stephen (Desideria), Yvonne Howard (Assunta), Amelia Farrugia (Maria Corona), John Marcus Bindel (Don Marco), Sandra Zeltzer (Carmela), Vitali Rozynko (Salvatore)
Spoleto Festival Choir & Orchestra, Richard Hickox
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Susan Gritton (soprano), Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo), Mark Padmore (tenor), James Gilchrist (tenor) & Matthew Rose (bass)
Collegium Musicum 90, Richard Hickox
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Janice Watson, Susan Gritton, Nancy Argenta, Lorna Anderson (sopranos), Pamela Helen Stephen, Catherine Denley, Louise Winter (mezzos), Mark Padmore (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (baritone)
Collegium Musicum 90, Richard Hickox
Available Format: 8 CDs
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
