Sir Geraint Llewellyn EvansCBE (16 February 1922 – 19 September 1992) was aWelshbass-baritone noted for operatic roles including Figaro inLe nozze di Figaro, Papageno inDie Zauberflöte, and the title role inWozzeck. Evans was especially acclaimed for his performances in the title role of Verdi'sFalstaff. He sang more than 70 different roles in a career that lasted from his first appearance atCovent Garden in 1948 to his farewell there in 1984.
Evans was born inCilfynydd, the only son of William John Evans (1899–1978), a coal miner, and his wife, Charlotte May,née Thomas (1901–1923). His family was Welsh speaking, and Evans spoke Welsh before he learned English.[1]
On leaving school, aged 14, he worked as a window dresser for the High Class Ladies' Wear store inPontypridd.[2] He took singing lessons inCardiff fromIdloes Owen, who went on to found theWelsh National Opera, and sang with a local Methodist choir and the local amateur dramatic society. On the outbreak ofWorld War II, he volunteered for theRoyal Air Force; he was trained as a radio mechanic, but also took part in services entertainments.[1]
After the war he worked for the British Forces Radio Network inHamburg, where he sang with the radio chorus and took lessons from the baritone Theo Herrmann. He then studied withFernando Carpi inGeneva and at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama in London first, for a short time, withWalther Gruner and then withWalter Hyde.[3][4]
During a career that lasted from his first appearance atCovent Garden in January 1948 to his farewell at the same house in June 1984, Evans played over 70 roles.[5] He made his operatic début as the nightwatchman inDie Meistersinger at theRoyal Opera House in 1948 and performed there as Figaro inMozart'sThe Marriage of Figaro in 1949, a part which he sang more than 500 times during his international career.[1] It was as Figaro that he made his début atLa Scala, Milan in 1960, the first British singer to appear there since the war.[6]
HisVienna Staatsoper début as a last-minute replacement impressedHerbert von Karajan, who offered him a contract with the company, but Evans declined, believing that his place was at Covent Garden, which he always regarded as his operatic home; despite international success he always called himself "Sir David [Webster]'s boy."[5][7]
At theGlyndebourne Festival Opera in 1957, he first played the part with which he became internationally associated: the title role in Verdi'sFalstaff,[8] which he later played in opera houses around the world, including Covent Garden (1961, directed and designed byFranco Zeffirelli), the Vienna Staatsoper and theMetropolitan Opera (1964 in another Zeffirelli production). Other roles in which he was celebrated were Beckmesser inDie Meistersinger, Figaro, Don Pizarro inFidelio, the title role inDon Pasquale, Dulcamara inL'elisir d'amore and Leporello inDon Giovanni. He was an outstanding actor in both comic and tragic roles such as Wozzeck.[9]
Evans's repertoire was in thebass-baritone range such as Don Pizarro, and in Mozart he chose the lower roles - Leporello rather thanDon Giovanni, Figaro rather than the Count. Roles higher in the baritone register were not comfortable for him: he never undertook Iago inOtello and his one attempt at the title role inRigoletto, at Covent Garden in 1964, ended in disaster when his voice failed on the first night, on which occasion he took the unusual step of apologising to the audience at the final curtain.[10]
Evans appeared in the premières of many modern British operas, includingVaughan Williams'sPilgrim's Progress (1951);Britten'sBilly Budd (1951) andGloriana (1953),Walton'sTroilus and Cressida (1954), andHoddinott'sThe Beach of Falesá (1974) andMurder the Magician (1976). InBilly Budd, Britten wrote much of the title part with Evans in mind, but the singer, after preparing the role, found that it lay uncomfortably high for him and opted for the lesser role of Mr Flint, the Sailing Master.[11] Later in his career, Evans switched to the bass role of the evil John Claggart, Master at Arms.[12]
Geraint Evans's studio recordings includeFalstaff (conducted byGeorg Solti); Mozart'sFigaro (for bothOtto Klemperer andDaniel Barenboim); Guglielmo inCosì fan tutte (Klemperer); Ned Keene inPeter Grimes (conducted by the composer); Beckmesser inDie Meistersinger (conducted by Herbert von Karajan); Dulcamara inL'elisir d'amore (conducted byJohn Pritchard); Wozzeck (conducted byKarl Böhm).
Evans was among the line-up of top singers assembled byWalter Legge for Klemperer's 1961 recording ofJ. S. Bach'sSt. Matthew Passion. Evans also recorded threeGilbert and Sullivan roles forEMI conducted bySir Malcolm Sargent: Ko-Ko inThe Mikado (1957), the Duke of Plaza Toro inThe Gondoliers (1957) and Jack Point inThe Yeomen of the Guard (1958). A performance ofDon Giovanni conducted by Solti withCesare Siepi as Giovanni and Evans as Leporello, recorded at Covent Garden in 1962, was released on CD in 2006 on the Royal Opera House's own label. Lieder did not feature strongly in Evans's repertoire, but he recorded songs fromGustav Mahler'sDes Knaben Wunderhorn with the youngJanet Baker in 1966.
Between 1968 and 1981 Evans gave a series of televised masterclasses for the BBC in which he took young professional singers through key operatic works, includingThe Marriage of Figaro,Falstaff,Don Giovanni,The Magic Flute,La bohème,Peter Grimes,I Pagliacci andCosì fan Tutte.[13]
Peter Ustinov, who directed Evans in opera, wrote of him:
The criticPeter Conrad commented on Evans's "physiognomic intelligence...His characterisations were built from the shoes up - his Claggart inBilly Budd minced; his Wozzeck plodded; his Beckmesser scurried like an officious beetle; his Falstaff had a pigeon-toed waddle."[15]
Evans was knighted in 1969.[16] Other honours conferred on him included:Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music (1960); Sir Charles Santley Memorial Award (1963); Hon. Doctor of Music,University of Wales, (1965); Harriet Cohen International Award (1967); Hon.RAM (1969); Hon. Doctor of Music,Leicester University (1969); Fellow,University College, Cardiff (1976); Fellow of theRoyal Northern College of Music (1978); Honorary Fellow ofJesus College, Oxford;San Francisco Opera Medal (1980); Fidelio Medal (1980); Fellow of theRoyal College of Music (1981); Fellow of theRoyal Society of Arts (1984); Freeman, City of London (1984); Society ofCymmrodorion Medal, 1984; Hon. Doctor of MusicOxford University (1985);Order of St John (1986); Fellow,Trinity College, London (1987); FellowUniversity College, Swansea (1990).[17]
After his retirement from the operatic stage in 1984 (his farewell performances were as Dulcamara), he continued to work as an operatic stage director. He was more in demand abroad than at home in this capacity and directedPeter Grimes,Billy Budd,Falstaff,The Marriage of Figaro andDon Pasquale in the U.S.[1] In 1984 Evans published his memoirs,A Knight at the Opera, written in collaboration withNoël Goodwin. A paperback edition was published the following year.[18]
Evans's final public appearance was in July 1992 (only two months before his death) at the gala to mark the closure of the old opera house at Glyndebourne, along with Janet Baker,Montserrat Caballé,Cynthia Haymon,Felicity Lott,Ruggero Raimondi,Elisabeth Söderström andFrederica von Stade.[19]
Evans died in Bronglais Hospital,Aberystwyth, at the age of 70. A memorial service inWestminster Abbey was attended by more than 1,700 family, friends and admirers. The orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera House were conducted byBernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti,Sir Colin Davis andSir Edward Downes. Hymns were sung in Welsh, and lessons were read byDonald Sinden andStuart Burrows. Among the congregation wereDame Joan Sutherland,Peter Brook, and representatives of theWelsh National Opera and theLondon Welsh rugby club.[20]
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