# Sybil Gordon > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sybil_Gordon > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sybil_Gordon.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Gordon > Source revision: 1324526416 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Sybil Gordon** (22 March 1902 – 17 December 1981) was an English singer and actress.[1] She is best remembered for her performances in [Gilbert and Sullivan](/source/Gilbert_and_Sullivan) roles with the [D'Oyly Carte Opera Company](/source/D'Oyly_Carte_Opera_Company) from 1926 to 1931. Gordon started out as a concert singer. After her career with the D'Oyly Carte company, she moved to Canada, where she broadcast on the radio. In the 1981 film *[Chariots of Fire](/source/Chariots_of_Fire)*, she is misidentified as the fiancée of Olympic runner [Harold Abrahams](/source/Harold_Abrahams). ## Career Gordon was born **Sophia Solomon** in [Manchester](/source/Manchester).[1] Early in her career, Gordon won first prize at the 1923 [Blackpool](/source/Blackpool) Music Competition, judged by [Sir Steuart Wilson](/source/Steuart_Wilson).[2] At this time, she was singing as a [mezzo-soprano](/source/Mezzo-soprano). The following year, as a [soprano](/source/Soprano), she sang regularly in [BBC](/source/BBC) broadcasts of songs by [Walford Davies](/source/Walford_Davies), [Roger Quilter](/source/Roger_Quilter) and others, and [operatic](/source/Opera) arias by composers including [Puccini](/source/Giacomo_Puccini) and [Massenet](/source/Jules_Massenet).[3] She also performed in a series of concerts in [Manchester](/source/Manchester). The critic [Samuel Langford](/source/Samuel_Langford) wrote of her, "Her voice has a decided freshness and purity, and her interpretations, though not greatly varied, have confidence, alertness and charm."[4] Gordon joined the chorus of the [D'Oyly Carte Opera Company](/source/D'Oyly_Carte_Opera_Company) in 1926, singing on tour in England and Ireland and in a London season at the [Prince's Theatre](/source/Shaftesbury_Theatre).[5] Beginning in 1927, she performed several soprano roles with the company: the Plaintiff in *[Trial by Jury](/source/Trial_by_Jury)*, Celia in *[Iolanthe](/source/Iolanthe)*, Lady Psyche in *[Princess Ida](/source/Princess_Ida)*, Zorah in *[Ruddigore](/source/Ruddigore)* and Fiametta in *[The Gondoliers](/source/The_Gondoliers)*.[6] Her performance with the company as Lady Psyche at the [Savoy Theatre](/source/Savoy_Theatre) in 1929 was singled out by *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* for particular praise.[7] She sings Fiametta on the 1927 D'Oyly Carte recording of *The Gondoliers*.[8] She also sang Celia in the radio broadcast of *Iolanthe* from the Savoy Theatre in February 1930.[9] Gordon left the company at the end of the 1930 season, rejoining briefly in April 1931 as the Plaintiff in *Trial by Jury*.[10] In 1931, Gordon moved to Canada. There, from November 1931 to February 1932, she sang in radio broadcasts of all 13 extant Gilbert and Sullivan operas on the [CBC](/source/CBC_Radio), on the [C-I-L](/source/Canadian_Industries_Limited)-sponsored "Opera House of the Air".[1] She died in [Hatch End](/source/Hatch_End), Middlesex, at the age of 79.[1] ## *Chariots of Fire* In the 1981 film *[Chariots of Fire](/source/Chariots_of_Fire)*, Olympic runner [Harold Abrahams](/source/Harold_Abrahams)'s fiancée is misidentified as Sybil Gordon (portrayed by [Alice Krige](/source/Alice_Krige)). In reality, his fiancée, whom he did not actually meet until a decade after the 1924 Olympics, was [Sybil Evers](/source/Sybil_Evers), who sang small roles with D'Oyly Carte from 1930 to 1931.[11] Also in the film, "Sybil Gordon" is depicted as singing Yum-Yum in *[The Mikado](/source/The_Mikado)*; however, this was not a role that either Gordon or Evers sang with D'Oyly Carte.[1] ## Notes 1. Stone, David. [Sybil Gordon](http://www.gsarchive.net/whowaswho/G/GordonSybil.htm), Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 23 September 2020, accessed 15 November 2020 1. *[The Manchester Guardian](/source/The_Manchester_Guardian)*, 18 October 1923, p. 4 1. *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*, 9 February 1924, p. 7; and 20 September 1924, p. 8; and *The Manchester Guardian*, 9 February 1924, p. 13; 2 June 1924, p. 9; 26 July 1924, p. 1; 29 July 1924, p. 1; 20 September 1924, p. 14; and 25 October 1924, p. 7 1. "Tuesday Midday Concerts", *The Manchester Guardian*, 30 July 1924, p. 11 1. Rollins and Witts, pp. 150–51 1. Rollins and Witts, p. 152 1. *The Times*, 3 December 1929, p. 12 1. Shepherd, Marc. ["The 1927 D'Oyly Carte *Gondoliers*"](https://archive.today/20120709033328/http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/gond1927.htm) at *A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography*, accessed 8 November 2009 1. Webster, Chris. [Original D'Oyly Carte Broadcasts](https://web.archive.org/web/20090726051048/http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narradio-doc.htm) at *A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography*, 16 July 2005, accessed 8 November 2009 1. Rollins and Witts, pp. 152–55 1. Chapman, James. [*Past and Present: National Identity and the British Historical Film*](https://books.google.com/books?id=M6Wazi7wgAkC&pg=PA292), London: I.B. Tauris, 2005, p. 292 ## Sources - Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1961). *The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas.* London: Michael Joseph. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sybil Gordon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Gordon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Gordon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.