Geraint Evans
|
|
The Welsh baritone Geraint Llewellyn Evans (16 February 1922 – 19 September 1992) was a well-known opera singer, noted for such roles as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Falstaff, and title-role of Wozzeck, among others.
Evans was born in Pontypridd and studied voice in Cardiff. In the years immediately following World War II, he worked for the British Forces Radio Network in Hamburg.
He made his operatic debut as the nightwatchman in Die Meistersinger at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1948, and went on to sing Mozart's Marriage of Figaro there in 1949, and went on to make successful debuts at La Scala in 1960, the Vienna State Opera in 1961, and the Salzburg Festival in 1962. In 1964, he made his debut at Metropolitan Opera as Falstaff.
Evans also appeared in the premieres of many modern English operas, including Vaughan Williams's Pilgrim’s Progress (1951); Britten's Billy Budd (1951) and Gloriana (1953), Walton's Troilus and Cressida (1954), Hoddinott's The Beach of Falesá (1974) and Murder the Magician (1976).
After his retirement from the operatic stage in 1983, Evans worked as a operatic stage director.
Evans died in Aberystwyth in 1992 at the age of 70.