Robert Radford

Robert Radford
1874-1933
English Bass
He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, mainly under the conductor Alberto Randegger, but also received lessons from Battison Haynes and Frederic King . In November 1900, Henry Wood had engaged Radford for his uncut performance at Nottingham of the first two acts of Tannhäuser In 1904 he made his first appearance at Covent Garden, as the Commendatore in Don Giovanni He was again engaged for Richter's Ring cycle in 1908, taking the roles of Fasolt in Das Rheingold, Hunding in Die Walküre and Hagen in Götterdämmerung.He was then engaged at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and sang at Drury Lane and His Majesty's Theatre. In April 1914 he was in the first English-language performance of Wagner's Parsifal with English soloists .In 1920–22, he became a founder Director of the British National Opera Company, and also became an important member of its singing company .Among his best-known roles were Mephistopheles (Gounod's Faust), Osmin (Il Seraglio), Sarastro (The Magic Flute), the Father (Charpentier's Louise), Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov (title role),