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Life
| 1889-1958 [Margaret Burke Sheridan]; operatic soprano; b.15 Oct., Castlebar, Co. Mayo; orphaned at four; ed. Dominican Convent, Eccles St., Dublin; winner Feis Cheoil, 1908; undertook further studies, incl. RA Mus., London; afterwards with Marconi in Rome; debut’d as Mimi in La Bohème, 1918; personally coached by Puccini in the role of Manon Lescaut; enjoyed immense popularity in Italy in his Madame Butterfly; |
| she retired suddenly at the height of her career and returned to Ireland but never sang in Ireland or the USA; d. 16 April 1958; appears in light disguise as a “La Sheridan” in John Broderick’s The Trial of Father Dillingham (1981). RTÉ hosted ‘La Sheridan: A Gala Tribute to Margaret Burke Sheridan’ at the Nat. Concert Hall, Dublin (April 2009), with Orla Boylan, Alfie Boe, Anne Marie Gibbons and conductor John Wilson. DIB |
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Criticism
Anne Chambers, La Sheridan, Adoralde Diva: Margaret Burke Sheridan, Irish Prima Donna, 1889-1958 (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1989), 222pp.
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