Born Elisabeth Sara Ameling on 8 February 1933 in Rotterdam, the Dutch soprano known as Elly Ameling won first prize at the Vocal Concours in ’s- Hertogenbosch in Holland in 1956, and the Concours International de Musique in Geneva in 1958. She gave her first formal recital in Amsterdam in 1961 and went on to perform for more than thirty years in virtually every major cultural centre in the world as one of the greatest singers of our age, renowned for her warm, unaffected personality, purity of tone and effortless technique. She made her career mainly as a concert and lieder singer, with some appearances in opera (Mozart and Haydn), and became renowned for her recitals of French and German songs and for her superlative interpretative gifts.
