The Australian tenor Robert Gard, who replaced Peter Pears as Aschenbach in Tony Palmer’s 1980 film of Death in Venice, has died at 93.
Pears had suffered a stroke and was unable to appear. Gard, an English expat, made the role his own.
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It remember it was a very wonderful performance and poignant as, yes, dear Peter Pears had had a stroke.
I remember Bob Gard with Opera Australia just after the Sydney Opera House opened. I worked in television and we were doing a documentary about the opera he was in (name forgotten). He had a great sense of humour and would often look over and wink at me to get a laugh. Later that day we went to his house in Balmain where his wife prepared us all a beautiful lunch. She died not too long after that herself.
War and Peace (role of Anatole).
https://tv.opera.org.au/programs/war-and-peace
Robert Gard was the most wonderful performer, from G&S through to Wagner (he actually sang Siegmund here in Melbourne!), and was of course exemplary in Britten. One of my first operatic experiences was an Australian Opera performance of The Rape of Lucretia at the Princess Theatre in the 1970s with Robert Gard as the Male Chorus, and he was electrifying, as was the entire performance. He was a stalwart of the AO when it was a true ensemble company and we were blessed to have him here in Australia. Bravo and RIP.
Robert Gard with Joan Sutherland in Die Fledermaus:
https://youtu.be/KxWrivXswg4