Agnes Nicholls

Who was Agnes Nicholls?

Agnes Nicholls was one of the greatest English sopranos of the 20th century, both in the concert hall and on the operatic stage.

Born in Cheltenham in the picturesque Cotswolds, Nicholls was the daughter of a music-loving draper. She received her early education at Bedford High School where she started singing lessons with Dr H. Alfred Harding. In 1894, she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music where her teacher was Albert Visetti. During her student years she took the part of Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and sang three times in front of Queen Victoria at private functions.

Nicholls' voice matured into an impressive, dramatic-sized instrument. Her operatic roles ranged from major Wagner and Mozart parts through to the Dewman in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel.

Among her celebrated Wagnerian assumptions were Venus in Tannhäuser, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Brünnhilde in Siegfried. In 1908, she participated in a notable production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, led by the eminent Hans Richter.

Nicholls sang with the Quinlan Opera Company during its 1912 tour of Australia. She was a frequent performer at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden until 1924, and was a principal of the British National Opera Company, appearing under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham and other leading conductors of the day. Indeed, in 1904, she married a conductor, Irish-born Hamilton Harty, who was to become famous as the director of the Hallé Orchestra. Harty was knighted in 1925 and Nicholls was styled subsequently as Lady Harty. He had frequently accompanied her on piano at song recitals, but his health deteriorated in the 1930s, and he and his wife became estranged. Harty died in 1941.