Elly Ameling

“If there are nightingales residing in Hibiya Park and if it is true that they die of shame whenever they hear other birds sing better than they do, then last Saturday evening the park would be covered by dead nightingales, when Elly Ameling sang in Tokyo’s Hibiya Hal.” (The Japan Times, Ronald P. Berger)

During a long and distinguished career, Elly Ameling established herself as one of the pre-eminent singers of her generation with superlative interpretative gifts, unequalled in the Lieder and French Melodie repertoire and as one of the world’s greatest Mozart singers.  Since retiring from the recital platform in the mid-1990s, Dr Ameling continues to share her love of song by giving masterclasses for young singers and is a most articulate and thoughtful teacher.  As Honorary Patron of Leeds Lieder she has been an enthusiastic and much-valued supporter.

Text: René Seghers
Photos: Elly Ameling, IVC, EMI, Decca, Philips, Sony, Omnium Video: 401DutchDivas/RS in gesprek met Elly Ameling, verlucht met Amelings eigen keuze aan muziekfragmenten

After working with Miss Ameling, Ernest Ansermet described her thus: “A good voice is a blessing from somewhere above; Madame Ameling stands continually under this downpour, of which the romanticists would have said it is of divine origin”.