Cecilia
Smiga (19th March 1975 to 14th
April 2013)
When people die they often
return to their home town to be buried/cremated.
Wrexham-born Cecilia Smiga was one. This
internationally-acclaimed opera singer died aged 38 after doctors failed to
find a grapefruit-sized tumour in her chest. Here I am at Pentrebycham
Crematorium near Wrexham where she was turned to ash and partially sent into
the heavens. What a waste of a life.
This soprano had high-level training at Flanders
Opera studio in Belgium, the Zürich International Opera Studio and the Royal
Northern College of Music in Manchester. Aged 23 she graduated from Manchester
and had a distinguished career, her credits include the big ones: Fiordigili from Mozart's "Cosi
fan tutte", Rossini's "The Barber of
Seville" and Puccini's "La Boheme".
She was acclaimed in the West End as Carlotta from Andrew Lloyd Webber's
"Phantom of the Opera". There were also many faultless performances
at huge sporting venues where a powerful voice is needed to lift the
atmosphere. For her final three years she was head of the music and drama
department at the LVS Ascot School, Berkshire.
For several months Cecilia had been feeling short
of breath and tiredness. In December 2012 she went to her doctor who prescribed
antibiotics. Eventually she had a CT scan that revealed a tumour the size of a
grapefruit behind her heart. It was too late, steroids failed and she died five
days later. On the way to Snowdonia for a long weekend I decided to head southward
first and visit her final destination, see the chimney where some of her
particles rose up and away. I strolled to the memorial gardens where her ashes
were scattered (though I’m not certain). Sorry about the bald milk-white legs
in the photos; it was a hot day. I did a heart salute at the crematorium
chimney and left.
Here’s Cecilia singing probably the most famous
aria O Mio Babbino
Caro... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbyUhGzjqxE
Looking at the crematorium chimney…
Pointing to the Way Out sign….the
final way out through the chimney…
Pointing to the Garden Of
Remembrance where Cecilia ass presumably strewn…
