THE ashes of Belfast-born opera singer Heather Harper were due to be scattered in Co Antrim yesterday.
The 88-year-old, who died in April last year following a long illness, was of the best loved and most respected singers of her generation.
Her mother was from the Robb family which owned the Robbs department store in Belfast city centre.
One of four children, two of her siblings also became professional musicians.
Heather made her Glyndebourne opera debut in 1957 and rose to international prominence in 1962 when she stepped in at short notice to replace the Russian Galina Vishnevskaya in the first performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.
She went on to perform on the stages of some of the world’s top operatic houses including La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London and Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.
Her husband, Eduardo Benarroch, was yesterday due to travel to Cushendun in Co Antrim to scatter his late wife’s ashes.
The ceremony was to take place in the grounds of Rockport House, where Heather’s family were evacuated from Belfast during the Second World War.
Mr Benarroch, who is from Argentina, said he had wanted to bring his late wife’s ashes to Co Antrim on the first anniversary of her death but was prevented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the "informal" ceremony would be attended by some of those who knew Heather.
"Because of her illness towards the end of her life we were not able to discuss these things in detail, but I feel that I am doing the right thing. I believe that Heather would have approved also," he said.
"She was a lovely person with a great sense of humour, and she was someone who called a spade a spade. That came very much from her Ulster background."
Mr Benarroch, a former scientist who became Heather’s manager, added: "The last time we were together in Northern Ireland was at the opening of the Waterfront Hall.
"Afterwards we took a couple of days off and we visited several parts of the province, including Cushendun which, of course, she remembered very well."
