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The British mezzo-soprano, Margaret Balfour, was one of the leading concert and oratorio singers of her country. Her active years were primarily from 1911 to 1943. She is best remembered as the angel in Edward Elgar's own recording of The Dream of Gerontius (1927) and one of the 16 soloists in the original performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music (1938). She sang J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) with Elisabeth Schumann and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates on May 29, 1929 at Kingsway Hall, London; HMV recorded this performance. She sang L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the BBC Chorus and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini at the Queen's Hall, London on November 3, 1937. She was a soloist at the Handel Festival conducted by Henry J. Wood at Alexandra Palace in 1939. |
