Death of a great British tenor
RIPWe have been informed of the passing just before midnight of the marvellous tenor Graham Clark. Graham, who was 81, had been struggling with cancer in recent months.
Lancashire born, like so many leading personalities in British opera, he made his Covent Garden debut at a charity gala in 1975 and never looked back. He notched up 122 performances at Bayreuth and 82 over 15 seasons at The Met, amid appearances on all major stages. He was especially close to Daniel Barenboim after appearing in his Bayreuth Ring.
Graham sang on into his 70s. His last role was in September 2019 in the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s Macbeth Underworld in Brussels.
photo: Benjamin Ealovega/Groves Artists
Terribly sad. Best Mime for ages. Time for everyone in the Kantine. RIP
Mime? He was a tenor, not a soprano !
@ Harry C: Oh dear, Harry.
Mimi=soprano; Mime=tenor….
Too right, Cato. Didn’t see you this year, are you there?
Another legend goes. Graham came to the RCM Opera Department in the 1980s as an acting coach. Utterly superb. He’d just debuted in Bayreuth, I think, singing David. I was fortunate enough to work with him about twenty years later. He was looking at moving to our corner of France so we had long talks about potential locations. He was never short of a good joke, either. RIP and thanks for the wonderful memories, in particular of your Mime, which garnered you an Olivier if I recall correctly.
As far as I recall, his Bayreuth debut was as Steuermann in Kupfer’s Flying Dutchhman.
You’re probably right, I wasn’t sure.
A truly wonderful talent, a generous and inspirational colleague and a really lovely man.
Remembered with great affection.
You omit to mention that in effect his debut with a major company was when he was for several years a regular contract artist at Scottish Opera singing a variety of roles and starting both before that Covent Garden Gala and before he was to join the ENO and commence his international career. He returned to Scotland in the late 1980s for major roles in two of David Pountney’s ground breaking Janacek productions Those who heard him in those early days were I am sure aware that he would have a stellar career.
Fortunately, I saw him as Loge and Mime in the second Kupfer Ring, and in many other roles (the Captain, Aegisth, even the drunken peasant in Lady Macbeth). He was a superb actor, and since he was trained as a gymnast, he always used his whole body. As Mime he could jump and tumble, while always maintaining the tricky rhythm.
A fantastic all-around performer, one of the best I’ve seen in all the roles in which he specialized. It’s a cliché, but he brought characters to life, whether it was Loge/Mime, Herod, the Captain in Wozzeck, Vere, or a role he created, Bégearss in Ghosts of Versailles. No matter how you felt about Corigliano’s opera, if you saw it it the theater or on television, you’ve likely never forgotten Clark slithering down that banister in the Worm aria.
A quote from a 1994 interview by Bruce Duffie: “Our job in the theater, after all, is to stimulate. It is to stimulate emotionally, physically and intellectually, and intellectually is just important as the emotions. We have a duty to make our audiences sit up and take notice of what is going on. Now by siting up and taking notice, we can irritate or we can please. That’s not the point. We actually stimulate them.”
I think I’m right in saying that GC sang on THE GOOD OLD DAYS, it was a popular song like ‘Because ‘ or something similar. It was thrilling. His voice soared and his performance stayed with me…. Fantastic!
A sad loss indeed. A great artist. I think he sang on beyond 2019 and seems still to have had performances scheduled. He was originally announced of course as the non-singing major-demo in Garsington”s Ariadne this year.
A great artist and the nicest person ever!
RIP dear Graham
Mr. Clark made his debut on January 25, 1975 at a Covent Garden benefit for Australian relief funds, following the near-destruction of the city of Darwin by cyclone Tracy. Most of the concert was shown on “London Weekend TV,” and an LP was issued as Decca SXL 6719.
Considering his later Wagnerian career, it’s worth noting that Graham Clark’s debut had him singing the tenor parts in two selections by Verdi: The trio from I LOMBARDI and the quartet from RIGOLETTO.
The benefit, attended by Prince Charles as patron of the Royal Opera House, had been organized in part by Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge. That connection led, later in 1975, to what was likely Mr. Clark’s first studio recording — as the “Byzantine herald” in ESCLARMONDE by Massenet.
The most wonderfully supportive colleague I have ever worked with. He suggested me to the management at Bayreuth for a role in Die Meistersinger, which changed my career. I will be eternally grateful to him. He will be greatly missed.
was privileged to see his incredible mime in the august everding ring at lyric chicago, then on dvd, his kupfer/barenboim appearance. splendid. i ‘fan-mailed’ him after that one, and he graciously replied the next day. a true mensch. safe travels.
He was the first Faust I saw (in Reading Town Hall with the Sainsbury Singers in the mid-1970s).