Stuart Burrows
Stuart Burrows | |
|---|---|
 Album cover (2009) | |
| Born | 7 February 1933 Cilfynydd, near Pontypridd, Wales |
| Died | 29 June 2025 (aged 92) |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Occupation | Operatic tenor |
Stuart Burrows OBE (7 February 1933 – 29 June 2025) was a Welsh operatic tenor. Adept at oratorios and operas, he earned international recognition and the nickname "King of Mozart" for his focus on Mozart operas. He performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1971 for 12 years.
Life and career
[edit]Burrows was born on 7 February 1933,[1][2] the second of the three children of Albert Burrows and Gladys (née Powell),[1] at 19 William Street in Cilfynydd, near Pontypridd in South Wales.[1][2][a] As a boy, he had a soprano voice and sang from his bedroom window to neighbours on the street below. His first solo performance, at age 10, was in a Christmas concert at his parish.[1]
A skilled rugby league player, he was offered a contract by Leeds Rugby League Club, but at the last minute he decided against taking it.[3] He began his working career as a teacher in Bargoed, but his talent as a tenor soon brought him attention. His recitals included works by Beethoven, Berlioz, Schubert, Sullivan, Tippett, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Offenbach, and Handel. He earned worldwide recognition for being adept at oratorios and operas and specializing in the music of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, and especially Mozart, earning him the title of "The King of Mozart".[6]
In 1963, Burrows performed first at the Welsh National Opera as Ismael in Verdi's Nabucco. In 1967, he was chosen by Stravinsky's for the title role of his Oedipus rex at the Athens Festival, which earned him international acclaim.[1]
He first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1971, as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Cesare Siepi in the title role. His roles over 12 years included Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Edda Moser as the Queen of the Night, and Belmonte in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Kathleen Battle as Konstanze,[1] Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata, and the title role of Gounod's Faust.[7]
He made his debut at La Scala in Milan in 1978 in the title role in Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust. In New York, Burrows worked at Carnegie Hall with Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, and Eugene Ormandy, among others. He collaborated with orchestras including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Boston Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He also had several professional performances in the rarefied altitudes of Santa Fe Opera.
Some of his performances included Don Ottavio at La Monnaie in Brussels and at the San Diego Opera, Pinkerton at the Vienna State Opera, Gounod's Faust at La Scala, Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Tamino at the San Francisco Opera, Belmonte at the Paris Opéra, the title role in Les contes d'Hoffmann at the Cologne Opera and the La Monnaie. He sang in Mozart's Requiem at the Cardiff Festival of Choirs. Burrows performed many times with the Royal Opera, including roles in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Maria Stuarda, and Bellini's La sonnambula, including tours to Japan and the US.
Burrows made television appearances in Australia, North America and Europe,[3] including a BBC television series in the 1980s called Stuart Burrows Sings;[1][3] he sang ballads and arias with guests including Isobel Buchanan, Marie McLaughlin and Valerie Masterson.[1]
Burrows received several awards and fellowships, including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wales in 1981, a fellowship from Trinity College, Carmarthen in 1989, an honorary fellowship from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, and an honorary plaque affixed to a LeShuttle locomotive granted by Eurotunnel in 1992. In 2007, Burrows was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).[3] He received the Freedom of the Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf on 31 January 2008.[6]
He also contributed to singers and charitable causes, launching an International Singing Competition and establishing an international voice award at Carmarthen's Trinity College, and was president of various charitable organizations throughout south Wales.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Borrows married Enid Lewis in 1957; the couple had two children. They lived in South Wales, where he enjoyed gardening.[1]
Burrows died on 29 June 2025, at the age of 92, after a short illness.[1][8] He was described by protégé Aled Jones as "the greatest lyric tenor of his generation".[9]
Recordings
[edit]- Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, with Georg Solti, which was also used as the score to Petr Weigl's filming of the opera[1]
Notes
[edit]- ^ The same street was the birthplace of fellow opera star Sir Geraint Evans,[3] Evans's brother-in-law Welsh rugby international Glyn Davies,[4] and politician Lord Merlyn Rees.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k ""Stuart Burrows, lyric tenor acclaimed for his Mozart roles who became a favourite of Georg Solti". The Telegraph. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ a b "Stuart Burrows | Welsh Tenor | 1933". History of the Tenor. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Stuart Burrows". BBC. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- ^ "Glyn Davies of Williams Street". rctourheritage.com. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "Peer's roots in 'gifted' street". 5 January 2006.
- ^ a b "Tenor granted freedom of borough". Wales Online. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "Performances with Stuart Burrows". Metropolitan Opera archives. 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ "Renowned opera singer Stuart Burrows dies at 92". BBC. 29 June 2025.
- ^ "Child star Aled Jones sings with late tenor in poignant 'Panis Angelicus' duet". classicfm.com. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
Sources
[edit]- Powell, Dean: Cilfynydd (2005), Tempus Publishing Ltd
External links
[edit]
- Official website
- Stuart Burrows BBC Wales Music
- BBC Wales page
- Stuart Burrows discography at Discogs
- Stuart Burrows at IMDb
