UPDATE - Issue 21 - Spring 2005
Love and Loss Opera Success
The world-renowned mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, lost her father to prostate cancer five years ago. She was devastated but decided to do something positive to raise awareness about and funds for research into this Cinderella of diseases.
Ms Wyn-Rogers explains: 'My father was 78 in February 1999 when he was diagnosed after complaining of back pain. He had jokingly talked about suffering from 'old man's disease' because he had to get up in the night to visit the bathroom, but no one suspected the underlying cause might be cancer. It all happened so slowly that we were hardly aware he had a problem. And he was a typical man who hated consulting doctors unless he was forced into a surgery visit. Women are much more likely to seek medical help for problems than men. If it is not diagnosed soon enough, it can spread to the bones, as it did in my father's case. I was on holiday in Cornwall when he was diagnosed and I rushed home, shattered by the news. For him it was too late for surgery. He was not a suitable candidate for chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In the end he underwent hormone treatment, which prolonged his life for another few months. Prostate cancer is linked to testosterone, the male hormone, and can be slowed by the patient receiving female hormone medication.
The cast being thanked by Humphrey Burton CBE
'I decided to sing Benjamin Britten's Rape of Lucretia because, although it is a tragic opera, it not only embraces the love of one human being for another but it is also about loss. Watching my father suffer during the 11 months from diagnosis to death was tragic, and my family lost a beloved husband and father.'
Catherine Wyn-Rogers(right) was
introduced to HRH The Duchess
of Gloucester in the interval
Catherine persuaded other international opera stars, including Geraldine McGreevy, Sir Thomas Allen, and Leigh Melrose, to join her in performing free of charge. The Rape of Lucretia, in aid of Prostate Research Campaign UK, was conducted by Steuart Bedford and held at St John's Smith Square in London on 23 March. Humphrey Burton CBE introduced the concert to a packed church of over 400 people including our patron, HRH The Duchess of Gloucester. All agreed it was a most memorable evening.