I am including this article by Brian Martin which appeared in Evergreen in 1994. There are several errors of fact in it and I have marked these in bold. Do not copy any part of the article.

Evergreen Melodies – Winter 1994

[image error]Shared affection… a fine photographic portrait of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth at the peak of their career.

They met while filming Faust in 1934.

Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth were singers in love… off stage and on. For almost 50 years, wherever they appeared all over the world, they sang to wildly appreciative audiences – their hands entwined in a gentle caress. Anne, who wore delightful gowns (which were often designed by Norman Hartnell, the Queen’s dressmaker) sang like a dream. Webster, tall and handsome, possessed a tenor voice that soared, effortlessly to the heights.

Anne and Webster were married for 45 years, each basking in the warm glow of their shared happiness. Yet there was often sadness behind the smiles. Hard times and personal grief occasionally tarnished those gold years. As Anne Ziegler (now 84 and living in North Wales) admits, the stairway to the stars had many pitfalls.

Webster, hailed as one of the finest lyric tenors of our time, died in June 1984, but Anne’s small house within sight of the sea is still filled with memories of him and the star-studded life they shared. Photographs of Webster show him cloaked dashingly as The Vagabond King or wearing a full Red Indian head-dress for a performance of Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s mighty choral extravaganza Hiawatha. But the photographs that really catch the eye are those of Webster, immaculate in evening dress, with Anne, charming in crinoline— two lives forever intertwined.

Anne remains a spry survivor. Her back is as straight as ever (a tribute to correct posture) and those lively eyes still sparkle. It’s easy to imagine the young Irené Frances Eastwood (as she was born) playing in the garden of the family home in the leafy Liverpool suburb of Sefton Park and dreaming of being a star. “When I was about nine my mother took me to the theatre to see a performance of Faust and I whispered: ‘I’m going to be Marguerite when I’m grown-up!’ And I did sing Marguerite 15 years later – with Webster as Faust!”

Webster was nine years older. His full name was Leslie Webster Booth (he was known by his first name to family and friends), the youngest of three brothers in a family of six. He was born in Handsworth, Birmingham where his father was a hairdresser, and one of his brothers, Norman, who recently celebrated his 95th birthday, recalled how all the Booth youngsters helped out in the barber shop, including taking the money from customers!

Cheery tunes played on a street organ (complete with monkey!) fired Webster’s enthusiasm for music, and at the age of nine he won a scholarship to Lincoln Cathedral choir school where he was taught by the dreaded Dr Bennett who would ram a broken baton into a pupil’s mouth and bellow, “Get that tongue down!” to encourage good singing. Yet Webster never required this shock treatment; his remarkable technique seems to have been innate.

“His tone was coming straight out of the throat,” said Anne. “There was no obstruction. It was a pure flow of air. That was probably why his voice lasted so long.” His only danger was that he might strain it shouting for his favourite team at Aston Villa home matches. Throughout his life he was a keen football supporter..

Webster trained as an accountant but his singing voice had developed into a glorious ringing tenor. He faced a major dilemma; should he continue in accountancy (dull but lucrative) or make singing his profession? Fate took a hand. He was asked to attend an interview in London. (he had already auditioned in Birmingham) with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company – on the same day that he was due to carry out an audit in Merthyr Tydfil. Which should he choose? He opted for London – and soon he was singing with the D’Oyly Carte chorus in The Yeomen of the Guard at Brighton, the first of many touring productions. His career was also on course for a meeting with Anne.

Elocution coaching by renowned Shakespearian actor Robert Atkins helped Webster lose his Birmingham accent and his voice eventually became famous for its tone quality, pitch and diction – “He was rightly in love with his voice and used to tape all his records,” Anne recalls. “It was a light voice with an exceptionally high range, ideal for opera.”

Fred Hartley

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Incredibly, he was once told by a technician at Edison Records that his voice “would not record”, yet he was eventually asked to make a test recording for the Columbia Gramophone Company, which was heard at a party by the great Australian bass-baritione Peter Dawson. Dawson was so impressed that he used his influence at HMV to get the young singer a contract and Webster’s first record was that delightful ballad A Brown Bird Singing, made in 1929 with Ray Noble’s orchestra and accompanied by suitable bird effects! There was some confusion because Cavan O’Connor brought out a similar record (also with Ray Noble) at the same time, but soon Webster was making more recordings for HMV than any other singer apart from Bing Crosby!

His first important London engagement was in The Three Musketeers at Drury Lane in March 1930. He also broadcast with Fred Hartley’s Sextet and made a film, called The Invader, with Buster Keaton (the movie was a talkie, but Keaton didn’t say a word!). It was when he was asked to sing in a performance of Handel’s Messiah, conducted by the great Sir Malcolm Sargent (at that time still Doctor Malcolm Sargent), that he knew his talents had been fully recognized. This was musical appreciation of the highest order. He would phone friends excitedly: “I’m on the radio tonight… in a classical concert!”

Throughout his career he mainly chose to sing in English, recording duets with such well-known opera stars as Joan Cross and Joan Hammond. Many admirers were sorry that Webster did not pursue an operatic career, but he always said that he much preferred recording and broadcasting.

Meanwhile Anne was making her own way to the top. The daughter of a cotton merchant, she trained in music and dance and starred in several shows before heading south: “My mother was mad on music, and music was also my life. I had no time for sport or anything else.”

Offered a leading part (the top part in an octet!) in a London show, she was advised by her music teacher to change her name to something more attractive for the bill-boards. One day she was scanning the Liverpool telephone directory in the hope of finding a suitable replacement surname when, on the very last page , she noticed the name of Ziegler. There was a family connection… Mr Ziegler was a distant relative of her father’s who owned Landicane Farm, then an extensive property on the Wirral peninsula in Cheshire. The sound of the name had the required romantic ring and it merely took the addition of a single shorter first name to complete the task. From now on she would be Anne Ziegler; it was a name destined to beam brightly from the finest theatres in the land.

By 1934 she was a rising star, tipped for Hollywood, and the Press had dubbed her The Radio Nightingale. Webster was called The Voice of Romance and the two met during the filming of Faust in December 1934. When Evergreen visited her this autumn, Anne was excited because an admirer in Ireland had recently obtained a copy of the original film, which was made in Spectracolour. “It will be the first time I have seen it since the 1930s,” she added.

When the two met on the set of Faust, Anne admitted she liked Webster straight away. “He had marvellous, compelling brown eyes and a youthful face. But he was married and we weren’t supposed to be showing a lot of interest in each other… though he tried to attract my attention by balancing a small ivory pig on the top of a piano lid. It kept falling over, which gave him the excuse to ask me if I could make the pig stand up. Of course, I couldn’t either, but it started a conversation! I think our affection grew from that. It was only six months later, when he was in a musical comedy at London’s Savoy Theatre that I was watching that I found myself getting rather jealous because he had a French leading lady!”

Anne was an attractive 23-year-old – Webster was 32, a divorcee who was already on his second marriage. His career was blooming but his personal life was in tatters. His first marriage had been to Winifred Key (Keey), daughter of the principal of the college in Birmingham where he had studied accountancy. They had a son, Keith (now a retired farmer (flower grower), living in the North of England) but one day Winifred walked out, leaving Webster to bring up the baby boy (aged six) alone. He combed the country trying to find her, often using the journey to a concert venue as a chance to find out where she was. Yet the two were never reunited.

In their autobiography Duet which he wrote with Anne in 1951, Webster remembered those days as a giggle. Anne recalls: “Much of the money we earned then had to be used to support my parents. My father had failed in business and needed help. Later there was alimony to pay from the break-up of Webster’s second marriage and money was required for Keith’s education.” (Webster stopped paying alimony to Paddy a few years after the divorce in 1938).

By the time Anne met Webster he had divorced Winifred and married again, this time to comedienne Paddy Prior – but that marriage was also crumbling. With Anne he sensed a last chance for happiness. She had already appeared in pantomime with George Formby at Liverpool in 1935 and had also become something of a household word herself through her success in the operetta Love Needs a Waltz.

Anne and Webster recorded their first duet in 1937 (1939!) (fittingly it was If You Were the Only Girl in the World) and sang together in a memorable performance of Messiah with the mighty Huddersfield Choral Society and Liverpool Philharmonic under Sir Malcolm Sargent. (This performance took place in 1944!) In 1938 Anne – described by Radio Pictorial magazine as “The young Liverpool girl who made good in musical comedy” – took a leading role, as played on stage by Anna Neagle, for a BBC broadcast of the musical comedy Princess Charming; Webster (“an excellent actor”) played the romantic Ruritanian sea captain who seeks the princess’s hand in marriage.

Then Anne was invited to America by composer Arthur Schwartz to appear in his new musical, Virginia. This was her big break, and there was talk of her being the new Jeanette MacDonald. Webster also came over but, says Anne, was treated disgracefully” by some Americans who found his voice too refined. “If you got no piano player, buddy, stand in line!” he was told at one audition. He promptly walked out.

Webster returned to Britain, to face the problems of his second marriage and also his health. Anne (now singing as Anne Booth) swiftly cut short a possible Hollywood career to be with him. “When Virginia closed in October 1937 I returned home to be with the man I loved,” she now explains. “I often wonder what might have happened if I had stayed in America but I don’t think I could have stood some of the things that were going on.”

When Webster was taken violently ill with blood-poisoning, she was by his side. In desperation, doctors tried an experimental drug… (M and B) and it saved his life. “I’m convinced he would have died without it,” she says. After Webster’s second divorce was finalised, he married Anne at Harrow Road register office, Paddington, on 5 November, 1938, with the blessing held at the ancient church of St Ethelburga’s (recently wrecked by an IRA bomb) in the City of London. Ahead of them lay scores of personal appearances, studio broadcasts, concert performances, records, films and shows.

[image error]Radio Pictorial. September 1938. Two months before their marriage.

During the war, while based in Bristol, they also performed in hangars, warehouses and half-darkened halls, with top musicians like Albert Sandler and Moura Lympany, and there was rapturous applause from adoring wartime audiences. They appeared at the Palladium in 1941 with Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, were selected for the first post-war Royal Command Performance and appeared before the Royal Family at their own chapel in the grounds of the Royal Lodge, Windsor. On stage they starred in a very successful revival of The Vagabond King (1943) and Sweet Yesterday (1945) and their films together included Waltz Time (1945 – not 1942), Demobbed (1944) and a costume favourite, The Laughing Lady (1946). For years they starred in summer season at Blackpool, proving even more popular than the legendary Joseph Locke. As one showbiz writer put it: “They were now as much a double act as Marks and Spencer or Crosse and Blackwell.”

Their life was a whirl: a wild romantic blend of Johann Strauss, Rudolf Friml, Ivor Novello and Sigmund Romberg. They serenaded each other on stage and in recording studios with everlasting classics – Deep in My Heart, Dear, Love’s Old Sweet Song, Only a Rose, We’ll Gather Lilacs, and many others. It was a world of gentle colours, sweet nothings and telling glances.

Their main accompanist was the faithful (and ever polite) Charles Forwood. “If, at the end of a concert, he smiled and said, ‘Well done’, that was praise indeed,” Webster once recalled. “But if he just put the music away quietly, and didn’t say a word, we knew we hadn’t gone too well.” Together they were ideal ambassadors, transporting the flavour and refinement of more graceful, cherished times from the Arctic chill of Canada to the heavy heat of Aden and Egypt. Always they were immaculate.

Anne made her final solo appearance in pantomime at the King’s Theatre Hammersmith in 1954 and two years later she and Webster moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they quickly settled, relishing the warmer climate. They continued to sing, recording many of their songs in the Afrikaans language, and Webster played the part of Tommy Handley in an hilarious radio version of ITMA. Together they taught singing and stagecraft, helping many talented pupils on the path to success. It was a two-way process: “It was amazing how much more I learned about singing technique by teaching,” says Anne. “My pupils actually taught me something. Now I can look at an opera or hear a record, and pick out certain faults almost instinctively.”

[image error]The Golden Years.

In June 1978 they returned to Britain, setting up home in North Wales. They continued to teach and were still as much in demand as ever for concerts, but Webster had a debilitating illness and was growing more forgetful. The end came slowly and he died the day before Anne’s seventy-fourth birthday.

Webster has his memorial in the form of a bursary for young singers called the Esso Webster Booth/Anne Ziegler Awards which are presented annually at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester “to keep alive the memory of a golden voice of the past while encouraging another generation in the best traditions of English singing”. Each year Anne travels to Manchester to present the prizes with Mrs Jean Buckley who originally started the bursary.

Still remarkably sprightly and attractive – her appearance belies her age – Anne enjoys the company of her wide circle of friends, corresponds regularly with her many admirers, and walks her beloved 11-year-old Yorkshire terrier Bonnie each morning, as well as doing a little gardening “before I stiffen up completely!” She still has her memories, and her regrets. “Of all the songs we sang I have no particular favourites. They were all beautiful, but I would have loved to have sung more Gilbert and Sullivan… and much more Mozart!”

Then she thinks of Webster and smiles. “You know, he really had the most beautiful voice. I was just another soprano, six a penny,” she jokes endearingly, “but his voice was exceptional. To me he will remain one of the finest British singers of this century… and the love of my life.”

Anne with Bonnie (aged 84)

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BRIAN MARTIN.

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Published on May 21, 2020 11:39

Protected: EVERGREEN MELODIES – ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH

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Published on May 21, 2020 11:39

April 27, 2020

Recollections of Paddy O’Byrne who died on 3 December 2013

Tribute to the late Paddy O’Byrne who died in December 2013.

JEAN COLLEN ON WORDPRESS

On 4 December 2013 I heard the sad news that Paddy O’Byrne had died the previous night, shortly before his eighty-fourth birthday. People on social media and on radio remembered the man and his broadcasting skills with great affection, just as I do myself.

The Voice of South Africa competition

I first heard of Paddy during the Voice of South Africa competition organised by the SABC in 1961. My parents and I sat in the lounge at 21 Juno Street, Kensington, in front of our large valve radio with the green cat’s eye tuner, listening to the weekly competition with interest. Paddy won that competition, with Michael Todd second, and Dr Tony Venniker in third place. Paddy was Irish, Michael Todd English, and Dr Tony Venniker was South African!

Paddy’s father was a high court judge in Eire and Paddy himself had studied law and was working for an insurance…

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Published on April 27, 2020 02:17

BILL CURRY (26 March 1931 – 28 July 2015)

Memories of my dear friend, the late Bill Curry.

Many years before I met Bill Curry I saw him in a play at the Laager in the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. The play was called The Indian Wants the Bronx, a three-hander with Michael Richard, Jonathan Rands, and Bill as the eponymous “Indian” being brutally harassed by two yobs at a bus stop in downmarket New York. A few years later I saw him again in Athol Fugard’s A Lesson from Aloes, with Marius Weyers and Sheila Holliday. On both occasions I was deeply impressed by his fine acting at the. Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg

St Andrew’s, Ocean Street, Kensington. Photo: Rev. Fr. Stewart Peart

It was an unexpected pleasure to find him reading the lessons at the 7.30am service. He and I had arrived at St Andrew’s at about the same time in 1993. I had been appointed as the music director there and after the Nine Lessons and Carol Service, he had congratulated me on the choir’s singing. I discovered that he had played the organ in Cape Town many years before my early fumblings on the instrument as a piano-organist. He was always willing to play the organ if I was ill or away. Later still he joined the choir, first as a bass, later as a tenor. He often took the men in the choir for special rehearsals when we were working on something difficult. I do not know how I would have managed without his constant support, kindness, and enthusiasm.

St Andrew’s presented a Christmas in July dinner and he gave some infectious performances for the entertainment of the guests with him singing and me accompanying him.

I was very sad when he told me he had decided to sell up in Kensington and return to the Cape where he had been asked to stay in a cottage on the property of Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones who ran the Handspring Puppet Company in Kalk Bay. He had been instrumental in helping them when they were launching their company in the 1980s. In recent years the Handspring Puppet Company have become internationally famous with their creation of the War Horse for the play and film. Before he left Johannesburg he gave me his vast collection of LPs and a number of books and scores.

I missed his warm presence and his life-enhancing personality when he moved to the Cape. He appeared in a play at the Kalk Bay Theatre for Nicholas Ellenbogen and played the grandfather in the film, A Boy Called Twist, a South African adaptation of the Dickens’s book. We exchanged letters and phone calls for a while and I had hoped to visit him in his new home, but that visit did not materialise.

Earlier this month I was sad to hear that he was ill and in the frail care section of a home for the elderly. Yesterday I had news of his death at the age of 84. I will never forget our wonderful friendship. May he rest in peace.

30 July 2015

I had a call from Jill in Cape Town to let me know that Bill’s Memorial Service will take place on Tuesday, 4 August at 4pm at Holy Trinity Church, Kalk Bay.

Jean Collen (29 July 2015)

JEAN COLLEN ON WORDPRESS

Bill Curry 26 March 1931 – 27 July 2015

Bill Curry and Denise Newman in a play in 1981.

The late Jonathan Rands, Michael Richard, and Bill Curry (1981)

Many years before I met Bill Curry I saw him in a play at the Laager in the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. The play was called The Indian Wants the Bronx, a three-hander with Michael Richard, Jonathan Rands, and Bill as the eponymous “Indian” being brutally harassed by two yobs at a bus stop in downmarket New York. A few years later I saw him again in Athol Fugard’s A Lesson from Aloes, with Marius Weyers and Sheila Holliday. On both occasions I was deeply impressed by his fine acting.[image error] Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg

St Andrew’s, Ocean Street, Kensington. Photo: Rev. Fr. Stewart Peart

It was an unexpected pleasure to find him…

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Published on April 27, 2020 02:09

April 25, 2020

GODFREY: A SPECIAL TIME REMEMBERED.

Jill Bennett

Godfrey: A Special Time Remembered by Jill Bennett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[image error]Godfrey Tearle as a young man

I enjoyed this book very much indeed. Initially, I read it largely because I had a similar experience which changed my own life when I was young although my experience was complicated by the fact that the well-known man in question was married. Even though Godfrey was not married at the time when he and Jill began their unique relationship in the late 1940s and died only a few years after it began, the public still frowns on couples who have relationships vastly separated in time.

The book was beautifully written. Suzanne Goodwin is credited with writing the book in collaboration with Jill Bennett – no doubt she played a big part in it. As Suzanne Ebel I remember reading some of her novels with a theatrical theme.

Here is one of the memorable quotations from the book:

“You are supposed eventually to get over love. Nobody can pine forever. It becomes a self-indulgent invention, like Queen Victoria keeping rooms full of Albert’s clothes, or Miss Havisham in “Great Expectations” stopping the clocks and letting mice eat the wedding cake. So what I am writing, will look far-fetched and even impossible. Yet it is the plain truth. I never have got over the man I loved when I was very young.”

Jill Bennett was a talented and successful actress and eventually married John Osborne who wrote a play about her relationship with Godfrey. Unfortunately, he was the complete opposite to Godfrey and she must have wondered how she became involved with Osborne in the first place. Their marriage was acrimonious to say the least. Sadly, Jill Bennett committed suicide in 1990.

[image error]Jill Bennett

Jean Collen 2018. Good Reads review.

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Published on April 25, 2020 07:22

March 30, 2020

I REMEMBER ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH by PEGGY CRUDEN

I Remember Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth by Peggy Cruden (nee Wakefield)

I first met Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth in June 1940. I had of course heard of them before because they were so well known. I was 22 years old at the time and lived in Blackpool with my mother, Elizabeth Wakefield. We had come to live in Blackpool following evacuation from Birmingham during the Great War because of the fear of bombing by German Zeppelins. My mother had known Webster’s parents in Birmingham.

Peggy as she was in 1940, age 22

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Quite by chance one day, my mother was talking to the local butcher, Charlie Farrar who told her that Anne and Webster were living in North Park Drive Blackpool whilst performing in ‘On with the Show’ at the North Pier Theatre. He knew this because he delivered orders to them. My mother arranged, through Mr Farrar, to meet up again with Webster to renew old acquaintances and we went to visit them at the house. I was struck by what a glamorous couple they were yet at the same time very homely and friendly.

During the visit Anne and Webster mentioned that their housekeeper, whom I understand usually travelled with them, was unable to work for them for the foreseeable future because her father had been taken ill. My mother offered to help with the housekeeping chores and Anne and Webster happily agreed. However, my mother, who was in her sixties by this time found that the housekeeping was a little too much for her. I was not working at the time as I was waiting to be called up for war service so I offered to help out instead. Anne and Webster were perfectly happy with this arrangement so I became their housekeeper for the rest of the season until it ended in October 1940.

I had a wonderful time working for them. They were always so kind and friendly towards me and were such good company. I went to the house six days each week during the morning and did general dusting and cleaning. I recall that I never had to make the bed for them as they seemed to do that for themselves. I made a rice pudding for them on one occasion. Webster said it was the best he had ever tasted although, being such a gentleman, I expect he was just being polite! An embarrassing thing happened one day whilst I was working upstairs in the house. I heard the bathroom door open and when I turned around there stood Webster wearing, it seemed, nothing but a shirt! I turned away but Webster didn’t appear to be concerned at all.

Anne was very generous to me. She gave me a wonderful black dress with thin silk pleats which she no longer needed and a beautiful peach coloured nightdress. I had to shorten the black dress as Anne was a little taller than I was. I also used to admire her range of make up and other cosmetics such as Elizabeth Arden cream and she would let me have some of her make up if she no longer needed it. Anne would ask for my suggestions as to where to buy good quality clothes in Blackpool and also for my recommendations for a good hairdresser. I suggested my own hairdresser who began visiting Anne at the house on a regular basis.

I recall that Anne was a very delicate lady who was anxious to maintain her strength and energy for her performances. The butcher used to deliver marrow bones and I recall that Anne would regularly eat the marrow from the bone. She would also have regular visits from the doctor, a very handsome man as I recall. One rather bizarre recollection I have is that during one of his visits, the doctor sat me down on the bed and syringed my ears for me. I cannot remember why but I suppose I must have asked for it to be done!

I do remember Anne telling me one day that her agent had asked her if she would like to perform a show with Richard Tauber. I was most impressed because of Richard Tauber’s reputation but for some reason Anne was less than thrilled at the prospect and as far as I know turned down the invitation.

During the summer Webster’s son, Keith, visited the house for a few days. One day the air raid siren sounded and although Blackpool was never really a target for German bombers, Keith and I took refuge in the coal house until the all clear was sounded. Another memory of Keith was that, according to Anne and Webster, he told them that he had been walking behind me in the street one day and had commented that I had a very trim figure! They were probably just teasing me but it was very flattering anyway!

Anne and Webster invited mother and me to their show at the North Pier Theatre. Mother was worried because she didn’t have a decent hat to wear so she rushed out to buy a new one. On the night, Anne commented upon how much she liked my mother’s hat which pleased my mother. They called for us in their car, Webster driving, and parked in Queen Street, about 100 yards from North Pier. We all walked across the short stretch of Promenade and along the pier to the Theatre. Everyone who passed by recognised who they were. It made mother and me feel very important! When we reached the Theatre, Anne went backstage to the dressing room while Webster showed mother and me to our seats. During a wonderful performance, Anne and Webster even acknowledged us from the stage with a friendly nod! After the performance, we were driven home again by Anne and Webster.

As the end of the season approached, Anne and Webster asked me if I would go back to London and continue working for them. This was such a tempting offer which in other circumstances I would have happily accepted. However, I had by this time received notice that I was to work in munitions, making parts for Wellington Bombers at the Vickers aircraft factory in Blackpool.

As they were leaving, Anne showed me a case which she kept under the bed. The case was full of photographs of the couple and Anne invited me to take whichever photographs I wanted. I chose two and Anne and Webster autographed them for me. I still have the photographs to this day!

Peggy’s autographed souvenirs from Anne and Webster: October 1940

I still live in Blackpool not far from North Pier and although I celebrated my 90th birthday in 2007, my time with Anne and Webster still evokes fond memories. I was so fortunate that, during the dark early days of World War Two, my life was brightened by two such shining stars.

Peggy Cruden. March 2008

Peggy as she is today, aged 90

[image error]

Sadly, I discovered this notice when I was adding Peggy’s article to my page:

Margaret Lilian (Peggy) Cruden

Passed away suddenly at Glenroyd Care Home on Wednesday 16th November 2016, aged 99 years.

The devoted wife of the late Stewart, a much loved mum of Keith and the late Peter, loving mother-in-law of Anne and loving grandma of Neil, Michael, Louis, Alex and James.

Service to be held at Carleton Cemetery Chapel on Tuesday 29th November at 11:45am followed by burial.

Family flowers only. Donations may be sent if so desired to The PDSA.

Jean Collen 30 March 2020.

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Published on March 30, 2020 10:40

March 15, 2020

WEBSTER BOOTH, ANNE ZIEGLER – BROADCASTS, TV AND PODCASTS

BROADCASTS, TV AND PODCASTS IN DATE ORDER.

Demobbed on Daily Motion posted by Mike Taylor (1937) http://dai.ly/x2j8me2

Demobbed extract by Mike Taylor https://clyp.it/plnmsz5r

Voice of Romance (WB, presented by Jimmy Dyrenforth circa 1937) https://clyp.it/toubb0nz

Florodoro Radio broadcast BBC 1940s (AZWB) https://clyp.it/23qno2n2

Gypsy Love (Lehar) Radio broadcast BBC1940s (AZ/WB) https://clyp.it/3g2l4tns

On Wings of Song (September 1961 SABC WB) http://booth-ziegler.podomatic.com/entry/2015-04-23T08_02_35-07_00

On Wings of Song (Christmas 1961 SABC WB) http://booth-ziegler.podomatic.com/entry/2015-03-29T12_19_26-07_00

Paddy O’Byrne interview (January1963 SABC) https://clyp.it/rpsyok5r

Ivor Dennis, AZ, WB on Ivor Novello (SABC 1966) https://clyp.it/kt2yedi1

Bitter Sweet selection SABC concert 1966 https://clyp.it/ugaanrfy

A Musician Remembers 1975 (1): https://archive.org/details/AMusicianRemembers1975WBBroadcast1Joined

A Musician Remembers 1975 (2): https://archive.org/details/AMusicianRemembersBroadcast2WBJoined

Pierrots and Fol de Rols ( circa 1979 UK): https://clyp.it/vr0geydm

Looks Then Quiz (1978) Denis Norden, AZ,WB, Arthur Askey https://youtu.be/Cp4UWe4XadY

Alternative link: https://archive.org/details/LooksThenQuiz1978AAAZWB

Radio Wales Interview (1978) https://clyp.it/uq0mggzv

Pierrots and Fol de Rols ( circa 1979 UK): https://clyp.it/vr0geydm

Only a Rose TV http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k681ehAr8PL7k1abPA2

Only a Rose TV (1980) https://youtu.be/ll-aX9AnyYs

Russell Harty Show (January 1981) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3mV9mos4a2n9Gabqex

The Golden Years (with Alan Keith 1980s) Unlisted on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uU5XgP7jlHY

The Seven Ages on Radio 2 (AZ 1991) https://clyp.it/4j5s0upc

Jean Buckley interview (1985) https://clyp.it/t4uygx3r

Webster Booth Story (presented by Robin Gregory on BBC 2 1994) https://clyp.it/o05ced2i?token=dd084afbc98adee602ff58e5861c682e

Morning Star 28th April 2013 (me) My discussion with Clare Marshall about my book about Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler. https://clyp.it/eh0thevt

12 October 2014 Memories of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth: https://archive.org/details/Podcast1310Joined

30 August 2015 Morning Star Clare Marshall’s programme with recordings restored by Mike Taylor: https://clyp.it/sde2amhs

6 September 2015 Morning Star #Clare Marshall WB records Morning Star

I made some podcasts from 2013 onwards. They are available on the internet archive at: https://archive.org/bookmarks/JeannieC

There are a number of recordings featuring Anne and Webster on YouTube at my Duettists Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/duettists

15 March 2020, Jean Collen

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Published on March 15, 2020 07:58

March 14, 2020

WEBSTER BOOTH/ANNE ZIEGLER RECORDINGS ON CLYPIT

Most of these recordings may be found on clypit. They were posted by Mike Taylor and Jean Collen. There may be some duplicate recordings in the list. Those marked with an asterisk * are duet recordings of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. Mike Taylor’s recordings were taken from 78rpms and he has restored them to a very high standard.

MIKE TAYLOR’S restored recordings

The Mikado: A Wand’ring Minstrel https://clyp.it/vwvgfs0t

Abide with Me https://clyp.it/rqrz40lw

New version: https://clyp.it/0frb2thx

A Bird Sang in the Rain https://clyp.it/ijhcovsn

A Brown Bird Singing https://clyp.it/brvdmi34

A Kiss in the Dark https://clyp.it/ctnreghj

Agnus Dei https://clyp.it/xudblzg1

A Little Love, A Little Kiss https://clyp.it/41nuus5l

Madame Butterfly: Ah, Love Me a Little (with Joan Hammond) https://clyp.it/0pdzigo1

Ah, Moon of My delight https://clyp.it/crfv3wwp

Faust: All Hail, Thy Dwelling, Pure and Holy https://clyp.it/14nzwyiw

Along the Road to Dreams https://clyp.it/gtcdlnsz

Always, As I Close My Eyes https://clyp.it/0jao0mjn

At the End of the Day https://clyp.it/c3p5ktzt

Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod) https://clyp.it/ljgr4zma

Ay, Ay, Ay https://clyp.it/otoper4v

Ballynure Ballad/Trottin’ to the fair https://clyp.it/5kedevx4

Beauty’s Eyes (Mike’s restoration) https://clyp.it/s1pgttre

Because https://clyp.it/jec4g21m

Break of Day https://clyp.it/e0myaltg

Danny Boy https://clyp.it/webfrk3l

*Dearest Love https://clyp.it/sjf1kpyl

*Dearest of all https://clyp.it/oys4xksw

Devotion https://clyp.it/qoyrd0je

Eleanore https://clyp.it/tbd1l45v

Everywhere I go https://clyp.it/pnt44gno

Faery Song https://clyp.it/u4sicnr2

Faust finale https://clyp.it/xmwdsd3u

Carmen: Flower Song https://25ymvget

For You Alone https://clyp.it/4zvxpp5y

Friend o’ mine (Drawing room 1962) https://clyp.it/2hupnyrm

Goodbye https://clyp.it/arfya1wa

Greensleeves https://clyp.it/hwtkpugs

*Hear My Song, Violetta https://clyp.it/w5nncwdm

Messiah: He was cut off/But thou didst not keep his soul in hell https://clyp.it/if4bcgxg

*Here in the Quiet Hills https://clyp.it/zaluw52b

Hindu Song https://clyp.it/unmn3ywd

Homing https://clyp.it/3yf515sw

How Lovely are Thy Dwellings https://clyp.it/ag5dom2q

I Bless the Day https://clyp.it/bvmqzs2t

I Hear You Calling Me https://clyp.it/oglyisr3

I Know of Two Bright Eyes https://clyp.it/rvhlotef

I Leave My Heart in an English Garden https://clyp.it/5hcmvppc

I Love Thee https://clyp.it/gqrme5ug

I Love the Moon https://clyp.it/1kqd50xh

*I’ll See You Again https://clyp.it/z5mhee3r

I’ll Walk Beside You https://clyp.it/3wesbmcy

Ideale https://clyp.it/zescolht

Elijah: If With All Your Hearts https://clyp.it/vw5at1cp

Indian Summer https://clyp.it/bx3l3il0

Creation: In Native Worth https://clyp.it/eupvttnv

Just for Today https://clyp.it/ux434cln

Xerses: Largo https://clyp.it/alzsisdy

*Laugh at Life https://clyp.it/odi5sa3m

Liebestraum (solo) https://clyp.it/5m4gabei

Light Opera Male chorus HMV medley https://clyp.it/fjwbx5vs

*Sweet Yesterday: Life Begins Anew https://clyp.it/otgebjff

La Boheme Lovely Maid in the Moonlight https://clyp.it/uglt5utm

Acis and Galatea: Love in her eyes sits playing https://clyp.it/qvc2b55c

La Boheme Lovely Maid in the Moonlight https://clyp.it/uglt5utm

*Love is the Key https://clyp.it/1oaxikdd

*Love’s Last Word is Spoken https://clyp.it/srkegisz

Acis and Galatea: Love Sounds the Alarm https://clyp.it/55sze1xe

*Love’s Old Sweet Song https://clyp.it/gsqxe0vd

*Love Steals Your Heart https://clyp.it/tzmkft0b

*Love’s Garden of Roses https://clyp.it/1ezr0ffc

Macushla https://clyp.it/j43r5j0i

Moonlight and You https://clyp.it/suxdsyrk

Morgen (Strauss) https://clyp.it/2mg4s2gl

Morgen/Come into the Garden, Maud https://clyp.it/2sfecfdh

Morning (Oley Speaks) https://clyp.it/oeoqxqxa

*Music for Romance https://clyp.it/b4ud0m4p

My Heart and I https://clyp.it/idfhvbb0

*My Paradise https://clyp.it/e3lwl3vu

Napoli Bay https://clyp.it/labqhz5b

Nazareth https://clyp.it/3jldnhhz

Nirvana https://clyp.it/vfcrebxj

O, Come All Ye Faithful https://clyp.it/yeftoxnk

O, Dry Those Tears https://clyp.it/llblyizd#

Oh, Maiden, My Maiden https://clyp.it/4phcqvvr

Esmeralda: O, Vision Entrancing https://clyp.it/h0aqsgza

Hiawatha: Onaway! Awake, Beloved https://clyp.it/wkrkfgck

One Day When We were Young/Sweethearts https://clyp.it/ha5jom1q

Pale Moon https://clyp.it/tamrwex1

Parted https://clyp.it/qriewsgs

Passing By https://clyp.it/nb1zbclc

Rigoletto: quartet https://clyp.it/dvseui1p

Robber Symphony: Romance https://clyp.it/ggapqa0w

Robber Symphony: Serenata https://clyp.it/aupxdwy2

Frasquita: Serenade https://clyp.it/i03gvrfa

She is Far From the Land https://clyp.it/d4r2jynm

Show Me the Way https://clyp.it/03fq3qw2

Snowy-breasted Pearl https://clyp.it/mj0k0ea0

*So Deep is the Night https://clyp.it/fpjpevlo

Somewhere a Voice is Calling https://clyp.it/bybaikne

Somewhere a Voice is Calling/I Know of Two Bright Eyes https://clyp.it/2vck4wcn

Song of Songs https://clyp.it/i1u3vimd

Song of the Nightingale https://clyp.it/c2uvlq3k

Don Giovanni: Speak for Me to My Lady https://clyp.it/o0o1dgou

Star of My Soul https://clyp.it/ghsq2d31

Sweethearts https://clyp.it/gzmhhegr

Sylvia (Oley Speaks) https://clyp.it/fve0sbyj

Gondoliers: Take a pair of sparkling eyes https://clyp.it/n0jwb11q

*Take the Sun https://clyp.it/hw3avvuy

The Bells of St Mary’s https://clyp.it/fj1zb2pl

Merrie England: The English Rose https://clyp.it/b0ysxfzl

*Lilac Time: The Flower https://clyp.it/y4dqmckn

The Holy City https://clyp.it/zp2pfrhg

*The Keys of Heaven https://clyp.it/ygd3sncd

The Little Road to Bethlehem https://clyp.it/rbflsy1k

The Lord’s Prayer https://clyp.it/4alo3boj

The World is Mine Tonight https://clyp.it/xezn0kef

Elijah: Then Shall the Righteous Shine Forth https://clyp.it/2q543zcf

There is No Death (Johnstone/O’Hara) https://clyp.it/inwevkfp

There’s a Land, a Dear Land https://clyp.it/cf5aw1c2

Messiah: Thy Rebuke has Broken His Heart/Behold and See https://clyp.it/ejlbwbrs

*Throw Open Wide Your Window, Dear https://clyp.it/bloej2n5

‘Tis the Day https://clyp.it/fwoxprf3

*Sweet Yesterday Tomorrow https://clyp.it/ccoptovz

*Too Tired to Sleep https://clyp.it/x2xyi5nb

Tosca: Strange Hrmony of Contrasts https://clyp.it/ysdqtj0u

Tosca: When the Stars are Brightly Shining https://clyp.it/4ptafhod

Toselli’s Serenade https://clyp.it/0us4umyi

Trees https://clyp.it/3xzfzn5d

*Trot Here and There https://clyp.it/sezcqntw

Undivided https://clyp.it/w0vfjdrg

Unmindful of the roses, Life and death https://clyp.it/yt5wjncd

Until https://clyp.it/0u40nrxk

Wayside Rose https://clyp.it/zybjuw51

When Big Ben Chimes https://clyp.it/lvn55r1s

When We are Married https://clyp.it/m1jypn4j

Where’er You Go https://clyp.it/qf2nvf0h

Where e’re you walk https://clyp.it/ypxmjare

Rigoletto: Woman is Fickle https://clyp.it/zeliusuw

*You, Just You https://clyp.it/yfczc0kr

JEAN COLLEN’S recordings

A Bird Sang in the Rain https://soundcloud.com/boothziegler/a-bird-sang-in-the-rain-haydn-wood

A Bird Sang in the Rain https://clyp.it/amufywkf

A Kiss in the Dark (Herbert) https://clyp.it/mdcsnhkf

A Song for You and Me https://clyp.it/133s5dn5

A Song in the Night (to silent video) (AZ) http://dai.ly/x3vmk9n

Mikado: A Wand’ring Minstrel https://clyp.it/y5vefp1c

A Little Bit of Heaven https://clyp.it/sdfiqeyu

Elijah: As God the Lord of Sabbaoeth Liveth https://clyp.it/qqkrrc1n

At the End of the Day https://clyp.it/we32v4zq

Aye, aye, aye https://clyp.it/mjrdu2cf

*Tales of Hoffman: Barcarolle https://clyp.it/y2wd3dwl

St Paul: Be Thou Faithful Unto Death https://clyp.it/32qr5rtv

Bird Songs at Eventide https://clyp.it/w54mtxfn

Break of Day https://clyp.it/e0myaltg

Castles in the Air https://clyp.it/35in5hn1

Unmindful of the Roses/Life and Death (Coleridge Taylor) https://clyp.it/r3mdfh2g

Come into the Garden, Maud https://clyp.it/eaapccj4

Messiah: Comfort ye/Ev’ry Valley https://clyp.it/0z2qckt4

Il Seraglio: Constanze, Constanze https://clyp.it/qcus4s10 https://clyp.it/mgcnrqg4

Creation: And God saw the light/Now vanish before the holy beams https://clyp.it/mgcnrqg4

Creation: The Heavens are telling 1964 https://clyp.it/grewf2bz

Creation, end of part 1 http://picosong.com/SKub/

Creation: The Lord is Great https://clyp.it/wrxofain

Creation: And God Created Man/In Native Worth https://clyp.it/dwwrn0gg

Creation: On thee each living soul awaits https://clyp.it/4ce2awfo

Creation: In Rosy Mantle https://clyp.it/ejfa2ml4

Dance Away the Night: https://clyp.it/a4pr0lu0

Jephtha: Deeper and deeper still/Waft her, angels, through the skies https://clyp.it/thhawfvx

*Deep in the heart of a rose https://clyp.it/lka0r1na

Devotion https://clyp.it/pxg2ukmx

*Diep in My Hart (Student Prince) https://clyp.it/3pvhesbx

*Dit is Verby/One Day When we were Young: https://clyp.it/gutjl0ye

*Dream Duet https://clyp.it/gyjbbrva

Drinking Song https://clyp.it/a000mz2r

Drinking Song (Alan Keith) https://clyp.it/0rylgdjk

Drink to Me Only https://clyp.it/wcbmueoc

Eleanore https://clyp.it/xefomtm1

Elegie https://clyp.it/d0llji0e

Elijah recits Knysna https://clyp.it/u3qapnw5

Elijah Knysna Dudley, Ena WB https://clyp.it/ya0x1x2c

Elijah: It is Enough https://clyp.it/uyy5d3k0$

Elijah: O Come Everyone that Thirsteth https://clyp.it/ym035pxf

Elijah: O Man of God, Help Thy People https://clyp.it/hj4jdi2u

Elijah: See how he sleepeth – https://clyp.it/10iapklv

Evening Song https://clyp.it/jj3xa0uf

Excelsior Dennis Noble/Webster Booth https://clyp.it/efwrbzop

Faery Song (with dialogue) https://clyp.it/gnyy54v0

*Faust finale from film https://clyp.it/g4hfyf4y

Faust finale (Daily Motion) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k21qEGLDw3NkQkbAcCt

*Fling Wide the Gates of Paradise https://clyp.it/fdynhzp0

Giannina Mia https://clyp.it/sqkkqktq

Give and Forgive https://clyp.it/gxfgsttz

Goodbye (Tosti) https://clyp.it/amwipakb

Goodnight Vienna (joined) https://clyp.it/stnap1tr

Goodnight Vienna (1) Olive Groves and Webster https://clyp.it/ivar4ogl

Goodnight Vienna (2) Olive Groves and Webster https://clyp.it/bs1ushet

Heavenly Night https://clyp.it/djxkwzl5

*Here in the Quiet Hills https://clyp.it/mzzkefic

Hindu Song https://clyp.it/lan3b3kd

Ideale https://clyp.it/qq5urs5f

I Leave My Heart in an English Garden https://clyp.it/r0rirwc1

I Love Thee https://soundcloud.com/boothziegler/i-love-thee-grieg

If You are There https://clyp.it/h1jea2jk

If You had but Known (Drawing Room SABC 1962) https://clyp.it/2zrjzyhq

*If You Were the Only Girl in the World https://clyp.it/m0ggo3yv

I’ll Change My Heart (AZ) https://clyp.it/4dbwdptg

Impatience https://clyp.it/jbgjdqyg

Indian Summer (Herbert) https://clyp.it/kwnjfba0

In Old Madrid https://clyp.it/zxhjf420

Creation In Native Worth (Pmburg 1964) https://clyp.it/eupvttnv

Creation: In Rosy Mantle https://clyp.it/5kyrh1cc

In the Shade of the Sheltering Palm (George Baker/WB) https://clyp.it/iweh1ifz

Faust: Jewel Song https://clyp.it/4sle5y5s

Clip from King Hendrik (1965) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k74ORsvKb0ys21aIfRF

*Laat Ons nie van Liefde weer Praat nie http://picosong.com/SARV/

Land of mine https://clyp.it/yonbxtiy

Let Me Dream in Your Arms Again https://clyp.it/35g3msyn

*Liebestraum duet https://clyp.it/v31zj43r

*Liebestraum/Nocturne duets https://clyp.it/rokahxh3

Liebestraum solo https://clyp.it/gq4vqkfd

*Liefling, Kom Terug na My https://clyp.it/vhmwo4ym

*Lift Up Your Hearts https://clyp.it/tzk2mcxd

Little Damozel (Drawing Room SABC Drawing Room 1962 AZ) https://clyp.it/y2kwvfnt

*Lord Oom Piet (1962)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/kN8SnpYJimQZZhaeOWO
Extract from “Lord Oom Piet” (1962)

Lost Chord https://clyp.it/aj4c3vpw

*Love, Calling Me Home https://clyp.it/zpeuztqa

Love, Could I Only Tell Thee https://clyp.it/b3mvvrex

*Love Me Tonight https://clyp.it/wdbinkhc

Acis and Galatea: Love sounds the alarm https://clyp.it/55sze1xe

*Love’s old sweet song https://clyp.it/gsqxe0vd

*Love’s Garden of Roses https://clyp.it/1ezr0ffc

*Love Steals Your Heart https://clyp.it/tzmkft0b

May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You https://clyp.it/srmb2p3w

*Merry Widow Waltz https://soundcloud.com/boothziegler/merry-widow-waltz-lehar-booth-ziegler

Mifanwy https://clyp.it/i3vogjs0

Il Trovatore: Miserere WB, Joan Cross https://clyp.it/tgrp4mtv

Moonlight and You https://clyp.it/4c40bmco

Moonlight & You/Always as I close my eyes https://clyp.it/hiimb1c3

Moon of Romance (Strachey) https://clyp.it/zu1awbmx

Morgen https://soundcloud.com/boothziegler/morgen-richard-strauss

Mountains of Granada (Alvarez) https://clyp.it/lbyax3fh

Mountains of Mourne https://soundcloud.com/boothziegler/the-mountains-of-mourne-percy-french

*Music for Romance (Sandler) https://clyp.it/b4y0itc2

*My Dearest Dear/Merry Widow waltz https://clyp.it/qs4sg24c

My Heart and I https://clyp.it/vwhwvis1

*My Paradise https://clyp.it/pgdcypbe

*Net Maar ‘n Roos https://clyp.it/jnnkp4h1

*Nocturne https://clyp.it/mu24ff3u

No More https://clyp.it/qctqtboj

O Dry Those Tears (Drawing Room SABC 1962) https://clyp.it/womhubve

Magic Flute: O, Loveliness Beyond Compare https://clyp.it/mt4vhafh

*O, Lovely Night https://clyp.it/1jjtqkva

One Alone https://clyp.it/nyq4wlhd

One Day When We were Young https://clyp.it/ljdc2tje

*Only a Rose https://clyp.it/qhqx0bfb

On Wings of Song (solo) 1943 https://clyp.it/4dncswxd

*On Wings of Song (duet) https://clyp.it/gjmx5mu2

Pagliacci: On with the Motley https://clyp.it/kikpoa3v

Parted (SABC 1962) https://clyp.it/2awyd0oi

Pink Lady AZ https://clyp.it/hzg0nn4d

*Porgy and Bess https://clyp.it/gsqwexx2

Princess Elizabeth https://clyp.it/hbz2diei

Roses of Picardy TH/WB https://clyp.it/dodad0pk

Roses of Picardy WB alone https://clyp.it/ovf2ai2i

Student Prince: Serenade https://clyp.it/kuuwv2fr

Serenade in the Night https://clyp.it/1epecjaj

*Silent Night : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDU9RHHl828

Sneezles (Christopher Robin) https://clyp.it/zs1ci1pm

Songs that have sold a million https://clyp.it/qkksyn13

Songs that sold a million https://clyp.it/20mvrg3w

Judas Maccabeus: Sound an alarm https://clyp.it/jw3voali

Speak to me of love https://clyp.it/yb0b0yyu

Star of Hope https://clyp.it/50hmgbtn

Stay with me forever Lehar https://clyp.it/w2p0i4wn

*Such lovely things https://clyp.it/2jvb45w2

Sweet Yesterday (AZ) https://clyp.it/zhb1ria3

Sympathy (CS) https://clyp.it/c2a0uxur

Gondoliers: Take a pair of sparkling eyes https://clyp.it/fuegpl3i

*Take the Sun https://clyp.it/ipcxnlkq

Tales from the Vienna Woods (AZ) https://clyp.it/nklmbhng

Tell Me Tonight https://clyp.it/ffh3xwp5

The Immortal Hour: The Faery Song (with NZ 6 year old) https://clyp.it/qgyp2lj4

The Flower Song (Carmen) https://clyp.it/4rbogbs5

*The Fruits of the Earth https://clyp.it/ib0lr2ra

*The Gates of Paradise https://clyp.it/kckvi4qg

The Holy City (SABC/1941 joined) https://clyp.it/ijnzkpqt

The Message https://clyp.it/c3jwwb2p

The Star of Bethlehem (Adams) WB https://clyp.it/sdjxfrqc

Merrie England: Waltz Song (test record) AZ https://clyp.it/qz03msxa

Watchman, What of the Night, The Battle Eve WB, GB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X2tYotVfaQ&feature=youtu.be

The Way you Look Tonight https://clyp.it/bcqsbpdu

The Whispering Poplar (AZ) https://clyp.it/ondba2pv

The World is Mine Tonight https://clyp.it/kelcv3yp

Messiah: Thy Rebuke/Behold and see (Knysna) https://clyp.it/oklghm4n

To Mary (Shelley/White) https://clyp.it/sapxnm3j

Tosca Strange harmony of contrasts https://clyp.it/osb0jzy0

Tosca When the stars are brightly shining https://clyp.it/bkxnszgu

Toselli Serenade joined Goehr/Fred Hartley https://clyp.it/eh4ls50m

Wanting You https://clyp.it/uofqsgay

Watchman, what of the night DN/WB https://clyp.it/mka240io

Watchman, what of the night WB/GB https://clyp.it/whuxralk

Wayside Rose https://clyp.it/zybjuw51

We’ll Find a Way https://clyp.it/ghhynx5e

*We’ll Gather Lilacs https://clyp.it/u1trkug1

*What is Done https://clyp.it/5i4jjmgm

Samson:Why Does the God of Israel Sleep? https://clyp.it/flt1ug0n

*Without Your Love https://clyp.it/tsvkr1js

*Wunderbar (Afrikaans) https://clyp.it/sf5stfkw

*Wunderbar https://clyp.it/1g1pusg3

Elijah :Ye people, rend your hearts PM https://clyp.it/wlapibxu

You are my heart’s delight https://clyp.it/pf5rc203

*You, Just You https://clyp.it/sl1npd41

*You Will Return to Vienna https://clyp.it/zv2impe1

La Boheme:Your Tiny Hand is Frozen https://clyp.it/opmvqrzd

Jean Collen – 14 March 2020

[image error]Anne and Webster in North Wales 1978.

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Published on March 14, 2020 12:04

December 19, 2019

LIGHT CONCERTS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1956 -1975)

CONCERTS AND VARIETY SHOWS IN SOUTH AFRICA

I have compiled the following information from newspapers, personal recollections and programmes. The list is far from complete. Please contact me if you can fill in the gaps.

[image error]November heading for Johannesburg.

6 November 1955 – Quick Work. Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, with their accompanist, Arthur Tatler, fly to South Africa on November 6 to fulfill a concert tour in South Africa, Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Kenya. This will indeed be a flying visit for they will fly everywhere in order to fulfill so many engagements in so short a time, as they return to England on December 11, when Webster Booth is due to broadcast for the BBC on December 14, after which he leaves the following day for Huddersfield to sing in the Messiah.

Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth sang to fellow passengers while flying to South Africa. Their duet was We’ll Gather Lilacs, sung at 18,000 feet as they crossed the Zambezi.

ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH, 8 November 1955

[image error]

[image error]

Webster and Anne arrived at Jan Smuts airport on 8 November. They had been booked to appear in concerts with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London, also in Durban and Salisbury, Rhodesia. Webster gave a rather bitter interview about the changing times in music with the growth of music that appealed more to teenagers and the rise of television.

ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH, 23 November 1955, City Hall, East London. Recital presented by East London Association of the Arts.

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After their concert tour they returned to the UK where Webster had several Messiah engagements to fulfil. Despite his bitter comments on his arrival in Johannesburg, 1955 had been a very busy year for the Booths.

ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH, with Arthur Tatler (piano), City Hall, Johannesburg Tuesday, 31 January 16th and 21 February 1956

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City Hall, Benoni, Saturday, (opening Benoni’s Golden Jubilee celebrations) 4th February 1956

City Hall, Pretoria, Wednesday, 8 February 1956

B tour to Bethal, Bloemfontein, Parys (concert on an island on the Vaal River), Kimberley, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

[image error]Having tea during the interval of a concert in Bethal during their country tour – their accompanist, Arthur Tatler, Webster and Anne.

10 May 1957, Hobbies Exhibition, East London. The Round Table has engaged Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth to sing (Rand Daily Mail)

THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STARS 29 May 1957, Johannesburg. Anne and Webster sang at this concert produced by Cedric Messina and Monte Doyle in aid of the Jimmy Elliott Appeal.

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STARLIGHT 13 to 16 November 1957, Prosperity Park, Zoo Lake. All funds in aid of the United Party, Anne, Webster, Maria Pavlou, Eva Tamassy, Gordon Mulholland, Jack Kruger, Charles Castle.

[image error]

VARIETY UNDER THE STARS 7 March 1958, Joubert Park Open Air Theatre, Anne and Webster and a host of other performers.

[image error]1958 snippets

VARIETY PROGRAMME June 1958, Kangalani, home of Eva Harvey (by invitation only!) Anne and Webster, Sini van der Brom, Francois Bouguenon, Eva Harvey.

[image error]Variety in the Home – Eva Harvey

GRAND VARIETY SHOW, 27, 28 May 1960, Methodist Church Hall, Roberts Avenue, Kensington, Anne and Webster and other artistes. I (aged 16) attended this show and got their autographs at the interval.

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CHRISTMAS CAPERS December 1, 2, 3 1960, Civic Theatre, Bloemfontein, Anne and Webster and local artistes presented by Rotary Club.

CONCERT 30 April 1961, Anne and Webster sang at the Wanderers Club, Johannesburg.

OVER 6OS OLD FOLKS VARIETY SHOW 2 May 1961, City Hall, Durban, Anne and Webster, with Cyril Sugden, Graham Rich.

[image error]City Hall, Durban

5 July 1961. Festival Concert, Allen Wilson Beit Hall, Salisbury. Anne and Webster appeared after Webster had adjudicated at Vocal Festival for the Rhodesia Institute of Allied Arts.

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SATURDAY NIGHT VARIETY SHOW 1961, Amphitheatre, North Beach, Durban, Anne and Webster and top line variety stars.

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GALA BENEFIT SHOW February 1962, Ciros Club, Johannesburg, Anne and Webster appeared in benefit show for the actor, David Beattie, who was suffering from cancer.

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CONCERT Mid August 1963, Ficksburg, Anne and Webster, accompanied by Desmond Wright. Webster said that he would have taken me as the accompanist but he didn’t like two women on the stage as it would draw the audience’s attention away from Anne.

1964 Concert tour with SABC Orchestra. Anne and Webster were soloists on this tour.

1965 Concert tour with SABC Orchestra. Anne and Webster were soloists on this tour.

POPULAR CONCERT, 2 October 1966, Johannesburg’s eightieth birthday concert at the City Hall.

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GRAND VARIETY CONCERT 15 September 1967, 8.15 pm

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POPULAR CONCERTS, December 1967/1968

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THE ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH SHOW 26, 27, 28 August 1972, Durban Jewish Club, Anne and Webster accompanied by Jack Dowle, with top supporting artistes.

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FAREWELL CONCERT, late 1975, Somerset West

[image error]Farewell performance, October 1975.

Anne and Webster had planned to retire from the stage at the end of 1975, but when they returned to England in early 1978 they were in great demand so came out of retirement until Webster’s health broke down in 1983.

Jean Collen 19 December 2019.

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Published on December 19, 2019 07:21

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