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Born: Nov 15, 1936 - Zaandam, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands
Died: July 1, 2008 - Laren, the Netherlands |
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The Dutch soprano, Letty de Jong, began her singing career in the 1960's on radio in the background vocals in music from AVRO, VARA and NCRV. Her international breakthrough came in 1972 with the LP "Introspection" with (semi) classical melodies, arranged by Rogier van Otterloo and performed by flutist Thijs van Leer, Letty de Jong and large orchestra. The album sold 2.5 million copies. Then she made records as "The Way I am" and "Dolce" under her own name.
In 1973 Letty de Jong worked on the soundtrack of the film "Turks Fruit", composed by Rogier van Otterloo. She had a very wide repertoire and was known for her smooth pure singing. She was asked to sing a lot of jingles and commercials. She was also regularly seen until 1990 on the Dutch and German television, including roles as Dorus (Tom Manders) and in the series "Het meisje met de blauwe hoed" (The girl with the blue hat). She was part of the Fifty Fifty Quintet and has a lot of gigs with The Ramblers. With this orchestra she gave her last performance in January 2008.
As a result of her numerous recordings and broadcasts, the Radio Music Library contains nearly 300 arrangements which had been written for her, including many by her late husband the musician-composer Cees Smal (d 2002). |
