Frances Elizabeth Connell[1] (22 October 1946 – 18 February 2012) was a South African-born operatic mezzo-soprano, and later soprano, whose career took place mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Her early performances as a soprano included Corine from Luigi Cherubini's Anacréon, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Julia in Gasparo Spontini's La Vestale.
[4] In 2004, she sang Leonore in a performance of Fidelio by Cape Town Opera staged at Robben Island, 10 years after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison there.
Named the Elizabeth Connell prize in her honour, it is administered by the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation.
[5] Her many recordings include Rossini's Guglielmo Tell (Decca, Riccardo Chailly), Mahler's Eighth Symphony (EMI, Klaus Tennstedt), Mendelssohn's Second Symphony (DG, Claudio Abbado), Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten (Decca, Lothar Zagrosek), Gaetano Donizetti's Poliuto (NuovaEra, Jan Latham-Koenig, Live Opera di Roma), Giuseppe Verdi's I due Foscari (Philips, Lamberto Gardelli), Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder (Denon, Eliahu Inbal), Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (Squires Productions, Eve Queler, Carnegie Hall Live 1997) and Schubert Lieder with Graham Johnson, as part of Hyperion Records Complete Schubert Edition.