Valerie Masterson

The Times commented on her "welcome freshness", though on another occasion it found fault with her attempt at a Scottish accent in a Robert Burns evening at the Wigmore Hall, calling it "more of Kensington than Kilmarnock".

She later recalled, "I remember Sir Malcolm Sargent plucking me out of the Royal College of Music to do some Proms as a student – can you imagine that happening nowadays?

Other critics agreed: The Times criticised D'Oyly Carte vocal standards in 1968 but called Masterson and Kenneth Sandford "shining exceptions.

Pinafore; Phyllis in Iolanthe; Lady Psyche, and subsequently the title role, in Princess Ida; Yum-Yum in The Mikado; Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard; and Casilda in The Gondoliers.

[1] Masterson went on to become principal soprano with English National Opera, from 1971, singing a wide range of roles from Mozart to Wagner and Rossini to Puccini.

Her successes there included Adèle in Rossini's Le comte Ory,[10] Micaëla in Carmen,[11] Violetta in La traviata and the title role in Massenet's Manon ("exquisitely sung and acted").

[15] For three seasons, beginning in 1975, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, she sang a variety of roles, including "a memorable Matilde in Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra".

[19] Of her 1983 Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, The Times wrote that Masterson "makes a sound so beautiful one wishes it could go on for ever.

[20] She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1978, as Marguerite in Faust,[21] next playing Fortune and Drusilla in Monteverdi's 1642 work, The Coronation of Poppea the same season.

Her purity of line and facility for ornamentation, coupled with excellent diction, helped to bring to life his works which, as recently as the 1960s, were considered unperformable.

[14] Of her 1974 Manon for ENO, The Times commented, "The Coliseum has found a worthy successor to Elizabeth Harwood in the delectable form of Valerie Masterson, who has here her greatest success to date with the company.

[53] In July 1975, Masterson sang Matilde in a complete recording of Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra alongside Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras.

[53] She is also featured in live recordings of Faust (in Philadelphia), Mireille, Scipio, Chérubin,[1] and the ENO Ring cycle, conducted by Reginald Goodall.

[54] The 1980 television broadcast from Glyndebourne of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, with Masterson as Constanze, has been issued on DVD.

She appeared in the 1985 Tony Palmer film about Handel God Rot Tunbridge Wells!, with Anthony Rolfe Johnson singing 'Oh happy we' from Acis and Galatea.

[51] Her recordings of lighter works include The King and I,[59] Kismet,[1] Bitter Sweet,[60] Song of Norway,[61] On the Town,[44] and The Merry Widow,[60] and a disc of show duets with Thomas Allen.

Masterson as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance
Masterson (left) with Jean Hindmarsh in 1998