Death of a Covent Garden singing coach, 82

Death of a Covent Garden singing coach, 82

News

norman lebrecht

July 13, 2021

We have been notified of the death of Bettina Jonic, close friend of Bertold Brecht and former Director of Actor/Singer Development at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

She also has her own acting studio, The Little Garden, where students included Francesca Annis, Stephen Berkoff, Bob Hoskins, Annie Irving, Jane Lapotaire, Ann Mitchell, Hazel O’Connor, Elaine Page, Michael Pennington, Steven Rea, Penny Ryder, Martin Shaw, Juliet
Stevenson, Harriet Walter, Zoe Wannamaker.

Born in Los Angeles to Croatian parents, Bettina married the British publisher John Calder and was a force in the London avant-garde.

 

 

Comments

  • Wurm says:

    A very sad loss indeed, Bettina leaves a huge legacy. RIP.

  • Edgar Self says:

    Berthold Brecht died in 1956 in East Berlin, when she was about 16 if she has just died at 82. Could she really have been his close friend?

    • moneypenny says:

      she was probably fibbing about her age – and was possibly 10 years older than mentioned. She was a friend of my Mum’s. Many years ago now,

    • Tighe O’ Connor says:

      She was friends with Samuel Beckett and I believe the letters he wrote her are some of his most personal and revealing, they are on record in the Irish archives in Dublin.

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