When Dame Felicity Lott, one of Britain’s great opera sopranos, picked out couture gowns from her concert wardrobe to raise money for a local hospice group, she had no idea that within weeks she would be planning her own admission to one of its centres. Prior to the designer sale, doctors have given Lott a terminal cancer diagnosis that means she must now make arrangements for her own care.
“It’s quite ironic, really, because when I didn’t know that I was ill, I got in touch with the wonderful chief fundraiser… I thought maybe we could auction them in aid of the hospices. Then, blow me, you get signed up to the hospice yourself,” said Lott, who is publicly revealing her illness this weekend.
Although she has long been an opera star, Lott’s character is entirely devoid of diva tendencies. Down to earth and witty, her one indulgence over the years has been acquiring couture gowns for her concert appearances, including for a rousing performance at the Last Night of the Proms in 1996.
In what she now describes as “a daft move”, in Paris she bought “rather a lot of beautiful designer dresses”, rather than accepting loans from design houses as other singers do. “So I’ve got this fantastic collection of Givenchy and Bruce Oldfield.”
Her announcement about her health comes ahead of a hastily arranged BBC interview. The singer still plans to hold the charity sale in October in aid of the hospices in Sussex. Her treatment with steroids, she says, means that she has more energy than ever and is managing to enjoy herself, despite the diagnosis. “I’m just so happy at the moment. I don’t want anybody to be sad because I'm having a ball. I can’t understand it, because I’m not very well.”
Lott, who grew up in Cheltenham, never expected her illustrious career in the world’s opera houses and will tell John Wilson, host of Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, later this week that she feels lucky to have lived life to the full.
“It has been amazing. I’ve known about being ill for almost a year and, my goodness, it was a shock. But here I am for a bit longer, and I’ve had time to look back and think, ‘Golly, you lucky thing… You’ve met all these wonderful people and had a wonderful life. You’ve been all over the world.”
Lott, who was 79 on Thursday, recalls her youth as a “tall and gawky young woman who wore glasses”, a “walking apology” with no hopes of performing. “I wanted to be petite and I was shy.”
But she came to be hailed as a major talent after a celebrated debut appearance as Pamina in The Magic Flute at the London Coliseum in 1975. The Observer’s music critic, Fiona Maddocks, paid tribute this weekend to Lott’s “warmly admired and vivacious stage presence” and her “special affinity for French and German song and opera”.
Lott was made a dame in 1996 and is also the recipient of the Légion d’honneur, France's highest cultural award.
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All the same, she tells Wilson that she “can count on one hand” the number of times she has come off the stage feeling proud.
Speaking of the forthcoming auction, Lott said: “It would be wonderful to feel one that has done something good for once, instead of just having fun.”
Photograph by Thierry Orban/Getty Images