My mother had a lovely soprano voice which was largely untrained. She wasn’t a professional singer but was often asked by friends to sing at weddings and for other special occasions, but performing made her so nervous she had to give it up in the end. However, I think she was only truly herself when she was singing.

This amateur recording of ‘O mio babbino caro’ (Oh my dear papa) from ‘Gianni Schicchi’ by Giacomo Puccini is the only one I have of her voice. It was made in the mid-1950s by a friend who was a television technician who had a new gadget that made records. I know my mother didn’t really want to sing because she was out of practice and tired, as she’d been washing nappies all evening.