Max Worthley

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Maxwell George "Max" Worthley (* 19th February 1913 in Adelaide , South Australia , Australia ; † 19th November 1999 in Fayetteville , Arkansas , United States ) was an Australian singer of the vocal range tenor and voice teacher .

Life

Max Worthley learned the profession of banker , which he practiced until 1939. At the same time he sang in a choir and took lessons from the singing teacher Ms. Kugelberg and at the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide . From 1934 he appeared in programs of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and in concerts, so in 1938 in The Coming of Christ and in 1939 in Gammer Gurton's Needle . In 1939 he was drafted as a soldier and served in the Middle East , New Guinea and Borneo during World War II .

After the end of the war he went to London in 1946 and studied at the London Opera School. In 1947 he got an engagement at the English Opera Group founded by Benjamin Britten and Eric Crozier (later the English Music Theater Company). He sang the role of Thomas Meadows in Love in a Village , Nimming Ned in Benjamin Britten's The Beggar's Opera and on June 14, 1949 the role of Clem in the premiere of Let's Make an Opera in the Jubilee Hall at Aldeburgh Festival . In 1950 he sang Florestan Ducroquet (Florian Specht) in Un Mari à la Porte by Jacques Offenbach . In 1951 he sang - alternating with Peter Pears - the title role in Albert Herring . In the 1951/1952 season he sang the newcomer in Billy Budd and at Covent Garden under the baton of Erich Kleiber the captain in Wozzeck by Alban Berg and the Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . He has appeared in over 300 programs on the BBC radio .

In 1953 he returned to Australia for family reasons, where he gave singing lessons and directed the opera program at the University of Adelaide. In 1956 he sang the roles of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (as partner of Sena Jurinac ) and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Australian Opera Company founded on the occasion of Mozart's 200th birthday (later Elizabethan Theater Trust Opera Company). He appeared as Hans in The Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana , as Rodolfo in La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini and as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti . In Adelaide he worked as a music teacher and produced operas. He made several concert tours to New Zealand , Malaysia and Singapore . In 1958 he visited Germany, studied lieder recitation in Frankfurt am Main and performed in recitals . From 1960 he worked for the BBC on the recording of several operas, operettas and oratorios. In 1961 he became a member of the Deller Consort , with whom he recorded Alexander's Feast and went on tour to the United States .

In 1967 he became professor of music and director of opera theater at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He produced over 25 operas and also appeared as a singer himself. In 1976 he sang in the premiere of the dramatic oratorio Galileo Galilei by Lee Hoiby in the newly built Von Braun Civic Center .

Max Worthley was married to the pianist, organist and music teacher Edith Ellen Worthley born in 1953. French (1917-2014). He died on November 19, 1999 in Fayetteville.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Coming of Christ on ausstage.edu.au
  2. ↑ Gammer Gurton's Needle on ausstage.edu.au
  3. ↑ Love in a Village on brittaa1.memset.net
  4. ^ Productions 1950. In: JP Wearing: The London Stage 1950–1959. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham 2014, ISBN 978-0-8108-9307-8 , p. 7 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
  5. ^ William Kling, Obituary on legacy.com
  6. ↑ Edith Ellen Worthley on nelsonberna.com
personal data
SURNAME Worthley, Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Worthley, Maxwell George (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian opera singer (tenor) and vocal teacher
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Adelaide , South Australia , Australia
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1999
Place of death Fayetteville , Arkansas , United States