Walter widdop biography

Walter Widdop, the great operatic tenor, a Yorkshireman, was one of the best british tenors in the years between the wars.
Walter Widdop (1892 - 1949) was one of the few English singers between the war to have a significant International career.
Walter Widdop was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances.

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Life

Born: 1892-04-19, United Kingdom

Died: 1949-09-06, United Kingdom

Information: Wikipedia

Wagner on Record: Barbirolli,Blech,Furtwangler,Walter,etc with Austral,Easton,Rethberg,Schumann,Widdop,etc (booklet with text & photos)

Widdop, Walter: Sheba,Faust,Igor,Lohengrin,Meistersinger, Maritana,Esmeralda,etc, Oratorio Arias, etc

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The great English tenor Walter Widdop (1892 - 1949) is perhaps not as well known nowadays as his contemporaries, such as Heddle Nash (1894 - 1961) and Isobel Baillie (1895 - 1983). This is probably because Widdop made few recordings after 1930. But Widdop was one of the few English singers to have an international career before the Second World War and made a remarkable leap into being a Wagnerian tenor with very little experience. I have long been aware of Widdop and his recordings, but had little other information. This little book, compiled and edited by Michael Letchford, helps to remedy that situation. There is a short biography by Val Parker as well as a short memoir by Widdop's daughter Veronica Bott, plus Tully Potter's article about Widdop's recordings, a memoir of Widdop's teacher by one of his other pupils, a complete list of recording sessions and a wide selection of original press reviews of Widdop's performances.

Walter Widdop as Siegfried

Widdop was born near Halifax and left school at 14. He seems to have been a strong personality and is one of those p

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Walter Widdop

English operatic tenor

Walter Widdop (19 April 1892 – 6 September 1949) was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances. His repertoire also encompassed works by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Handel and Bach.

Career

Widdop was born at Norland, near Halifax, Yorkshire, England.^[1] As a teenager, he worked in a woollen mill and sang in a church choir.^[1] He also won a number of singing prizes in his native county, earning praise for his "God-given" voice, which was honed by a local teacher, Arthur Hinchcliffe.^[2] He served with the British Army during World War One and married in 1917.

In 1923, Widdop made the first of many broadcasts for the BBC.^[1] In the same year, he made his professional operatic debut as Radames in Verdi's Aida with the British National Opera Company, in Leeds.^[1] He made his London debut the following year, in the title role in Wagner's Siegfried at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His identification with the Wagnerian repertoire was st