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Heather Mary Harper (8 May 1930 – 22 April 2019) was a Northern Irish soprano. She was active internationally in both opera and concert. She performed roles such as Helena in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Opera House, Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival, and the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera. She became known internationally when she stepped in for the world premiere of Britten's War Requiem in 1962, and remained associated with the composer's work, but also sang other premieres.
She initially sang as a mezzo-soprano. She was a member of the Ambrosian Chorus, where her fellow altos included Jean Allister, Pamela Bowden and Helen Watts, the BBC Chorus and the George Mitchell Singers. Her voice at this time was characterised by its "bright, flexible coloratura", more typical of a soprano. She studied with Helene Isepp, and retrained as a soprano with Frederick Husler and Yvonne Rodd-Marling, the authors of Singing: The Physical Nature of the Vocal Organ.
At the Bayreuth Festival, Harper appeared as Elsa in Lohengrin in 1967 and 1968, conducted by Rudolf Kempe. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Contessa Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in 1977. She also sang Charlotte in Massenet's Werther for the San Francisco Opera. She appeared as a regular guest at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, including roles such as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust and Vitellia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito. In 1982, the soprano debuted with the New York City Opera in the name part of Gluck's Alceste.
Harper also had an extensive concert career. She sang in the premiere of Britten's War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Peter Pears in 1962, substituting for Galina Vishnevskaya at ten days' notice. In 1965, she was the soprano soloist in the second UK performance of Frederick Delius's Requiem in Liverpool, conducted by Charles Groves. She sang in it again in 1968 in London, conducted by Meredith Davies, and appeared in the first recording with the same participants. In 1975, she was the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem at London's Kingsway Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carlos Païta. At the Belfast Last Night of the Proms in 1985, she gave the world premiere of Malcolm Williamson's song cycle Next Year in Jerusalem to international critical acclaim. She sang the soprano solo in the world premiere of Tippett's Third Symphony in 1972.
She retired from her singing career in 1994. Her final performance was at the BBC Proms, singing Alban Berg's Altenberg Lieder and Ralph Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music.
She recorded Britten's War Requiem in 1991 in an award-winning CD conducted by Richard Hickox. Alan Blyth wrote, comparing the recording to earlier ones: In 2005, a live concert performance of Britten's Our Hunting Fathers was issued on the London Philharmonic Orchestra's own label.
Harper's sister was a cellist in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and her brother was a hornist with the ROH, the Royal Philharmonic and the English Chamber Orchestra.
Heather Harper received the CBE in 1965. She died on 22 April 2019, aged 88.
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