Dame Eva Turner

Dame Eva Turner (10 March 1892 – 16 June 1990) was an English dramatic soprano. Determined from an early age to become an opera singer, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then joined the chorus of the Carl Rosa Opera Company. She was allotted increasingly important solo roles, and by 1920 was the company's prima donna. Talent spotted by an assistant to Arturo Toscanini, musical director of La Scala, Milan, Turner was engaged to sing there in 1924, and then had an international career in Continental Europe, North and South America and at Covent Garden. She sang in a wide range of operas, including those of Wagner and Verdi, but was known above all for her performances in the title role of Puccini's Turandot. From the late 1940s, Turner was a voice teacher, first in the US and then in Britain. Among her pupils were Amy Shuard, Rita Hunter and Linda Esther Gray.