Charles Santley by Alex Bassano

CHARLES SANTLEY
British Baritone
(28 February 1834 – 22 September 1922) was an English-born opera and oratorio .

He was a Choirboy and then appeared as an amateur singer, but finally decided to train his voice. He graduated in 1855, first at Gaetano Nava in Milan, then in Manuel Garcia in London. In 1857 he was heard in London for the first time as a soloist in the "creation" of J.Haydn. He debuted on stage in 1857 at the Municipal Theatre of Pavia as Dr. Grenvil in "La Traviata". Guest performances at leading theaters in Italy, England and France brachtem his first successes. He appeared especially at the Grand Opera of Paris and London at the Covent Garden Opera. He appeared in 1859 as Hoël in the English premiere of the opera "Dinorah" by Meyerbeer (with Mme Miolan-Carvalho as a partner), on 23.02.1860 in the world premiere of the opera "Lurline" by Vincent Wallace, on 11/30/1861 in the of "The Puritan's Daughter" by Michael Balfe, on 08/02/1862 in "The Lily of Killarney" by Julius Benedict (in the role of Danny Man). In 1863 he sang at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in the British premiere of Gounod's "Faust" in the presence of the composer Valentin. After this performance, Gounod composed for him the prayer of Valentin "Avant de quitter ces lieux" that is not found in the original score of the opera and is still not sung in Paris. In 1864 he participated in the British premieres of the operas "Mireille" by Gounod and "The Merry Weibner of Windsor" by Nicolai (in Italian) at the same theater. In 1870 he sang at Drury Lane Theatre in London, the title character in the British premiere of Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" (also still in Italian). In the years 1871 and 1891 he undertook glorious North American tours. In the 1875-76 season he was heard at the Carl Rosa Opera Company. He also made guest appearances at La Scala and the Teatro Liceo Barcelona. Until 1900, he regularly appeared on the stage, but gave up after that concert. He was considered the most significant English oratorio singers of his generation; his interpretation of the title role in "Elijah" by Mendelssohn was classified as completely incomparable. Since 1858 he sang at the Leeds Festival, since 1861 the Birmingham Festival, from 1863 to 1906 at each Three Choirs Festival, since 1862 also in the Handel Festival in London. In 1890 he toured Australia and New Zealand, 1893 and 1903, South Africa. In 1907, he was (to his 50th jubilee singers) knighted by King Edward VII. Than "Sir Charles Santley". In 1911 he was at the Covent Garden Opera London his farewell performance in "The Waterman" of Dibdin.