Sadly deceased Pop Idol sang once in Carmen
NewsThe Pop Idol and West End star Darius Campbell Danesh has been found dead in his Minnesota apartment at the age of 41.
He released five UK top ten singles and played Rhett Butler in Trevor Nunn’s 2008 musical adaptation of Gone with the Wind.
He also appeared in ITV’s Popstar To Operastar in 2010.
Raymond Gubbay recalls: One year we enlarged Carmen from the Albert Hall production and gave three performances at the O2 arena. The O2 came up with the idea of casting Darius as Carmen. I was very lukewarm but eventually we settled on one performance for his opera debut as Escamillo the toreador.
In fact he worked hard and made a decent fist of it. I always remember the deputy conductor kitted out as one of the smugglers standing below him as he sang the toreador’s song, prompting him perhaps not so discreetly. He did well and I am really so very sad to hear the news.
I went to Carmen at the O2 as I had previously enjoyed the production at the Albert Hall. I didn’t even know Darius was appearing but he gave a perfectly respectable performance. Rupert Christiansen gave him an awful revue in the Telegraph as I recall, so quite a badge of honour really.
I worked on the O2 Carmen project, in fact it was my first professional gig, during my studies in London. Darius worked very hard and was extremely warm and friendly. Very sad to hear this news.