Margreta Elkins

Margreta Elkins (born Margaret Ann Enid Geater; 16 October 19301 April 2009) was an Australian mezzo soprano. She sang at The Royal Opera with Opera Australia and other companies, but turned down offers to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayreuth and Glyndebourne. She recorded alongside sopranos such as Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland.

Margaret Ann Enid Geater was born in Brisbane, Queensland. She began her vocal studies at a convent school before winning an Australian state scholarship in 1949. That same year, she married Henry Elkins and adopted Margreta Elkins as her stage name. Also that year she competed in the Mobil Quest against Joan Sutherland. making her first appearances in Brisbane as Carmen in 1953 and as Azucena, in 1954. She entered the Mobil Quest again in 1956, winning second prize.

Moving to Europe in 1956, she was based there for the next twenty years. She began her European career performing with the Dublin Grand Opera Society and the Carl Rosa Opera Company in such roles as the title role in Carmen and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. In 1958, she became a resident principal mezzo soprano at The Royal Opera, making her debut there as Amneris in Aida. She sang regularly at that house for the next ten years in such operas as Lucia di Lammermoor as Alisa; Der Rosenkavalier as Octavian; Die Walküre as Sieglinde; and Malcolm Williamson's The Growing Castle as The Poet, among others. She also notably sang Hippolyta in the London premiere of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1961), directed by Sir John Gielgud, and portrayed the role of Helen in the world premiere of Michael Tippett's King Priam on 29 May 1962 in Coventry. Her other opera roles included Herodias in Salome, Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, and Delilah in Samson and Delilah. Elkins was a frequent collaborator with Joan Sutherland for performances in London, sharing the stage with her in Norma as Adalgisa; Alcina as Ruggiero; Rodelinda as Bertarido; and as Alisa to Sutherland's Lucia. Elkins also sang the role of Alisa opposite Maria Callas's Lucia for her 1959 recording of the opera with conductor Tullio Serafin. Callas had heard Elkins in rehearsal and chose her to sing Alisa for the EMI recording.

After the birth of her daughter Emma in 1970, Elkins decided to limit significantly her performances outside Australia and spent most her remaining career performing in her own country. She toured Australia in recital for the ABC a number of times and became a principal member of the Australian Opera in 1976. She was a Sessional Lecturer in Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium and taught at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland in 1986. She died in Brisbane of cancer in 2009, aged 78, survived by her husband and daughter.