May I add to the many credits cited in the obituary of Jane Manning (5 April) her moving performance in the title role in Edward Harper’s one-act opera, Fanny Robin, written in 1974 to be sung as a companion piece to Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas?
Manning first sang the role in a performance by the Edinburgh University Opera Club a year before taking part in its first professional production by Scottish Opera in 1978. She also, subsequently, recorded it along with the same cast on the OUP label. Harper himself always said he had the expressive range and pure sound of his friend Manning’s voice continually in his mind and in his ear when scoring Fanny’s part.
Roger Tarr
My friend and colleague Jane Manning established herself as a significant scholar in later life. Despite a healthy scepticism for academia in general, she produced, as part of a fellowship at Kingston University, Voicing Pierrot (2012), the seminal work on performing Schoenberg’s masterpiece, Pierrot Lunaire. Jane brought energy and verve to musical life at Kingston during her fellowship (2004-07) and after that as visiting professor until 2011.
Tim Ewers
