ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Jane Shirreff. Although the bulk of her fairly short career took place before the coronation of Queen Victoria, Jane Shirreff belonged to the group of soprano singers – Paton, Romer, Inverarity, Betts – who were the stars of the West End musical stage of the 1830s. On 15 December Jane made a second debut in The Beggar's Opera, with John Braham as Macheath, and the critics found this less winning. In the off-season, Jane visited Cheltenham with the usual range of chestnuts (Rob Roy and Guy Mannering with their movable parts) and then voyaged to Gloucester to sing in the year's Three Choirs Festival. After the long run of foreign operas 'adapted' for the English stage, in 1835 Alfred Bunn put his trust in an original English-language opera by the Irish composer William Balfe.
