Graham Clark (singer)

Graham Ronald Clark (10 November 1941 – 6 July 2023) was an English operatic tenor, known for roles such as David in Wagner's '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', and especially the character roles Loge and Mime in ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. He was a principal with the English National Opera from 1978 to 1985, and performed at leading European and North American opera houses after he was recognised at the Bayreuth Festival in 1981, returning for 15 seasons. Clark appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 112 performances over 15 seasons, in roles such as Stewa in Janácek's ''Jenůfa'', Herod in '' Salome'' by Richard Strauss, the Captain in Alban Berg's ''Wozzeck'' and Captain Vere in Britten's '' Billy Budd''. He took part in world premieres and recorded for major companies. He is remembered as a "superb, athletic actor with a strong, penetrating voice and exceptionally clear diction". Barry Millington from ''The Guardian'' summarised: "Though he made his career as a comprimario tenor, putatively subordinate to the principal roles, his incisively focused voice, hyperactive stage presence and musico-dramatic intelligence frequently conspired to make him the main attraction."

Life and career

Clark was born in Littleborough, Lancashire, on 10 November 1941, where he began singing as a treble in the church choir. His parents were Ronald Clark, who was a costums officer, and Annie Clark. He studied at Kirkham Grammar School and Loughborough College of education, and achieved a certificate of education, especially in physical education, at Nottingham University. He worked as head of physical education at several schools, in Oxford, Braintree in Essex, and Mexborough, Yorkshire. He then achieved a masters degree in recreation management at Loughborough University. When working as a Senior Regional Officer of the Sports Council, he took up singing, being already in his 30s. He studied with Bruce Boyce in London, especially belcanto singing in the Italian tradition.

Clark joined the festival chorus of the Wexford Festival in 1973, and sang small roles in Prokofiev's '' The Gambler'' and Glinka's '' A Life for the Tsar''. He had his breakthrough when Richard Bonynge accepted him for a charity gala held at the Royal Opera House in London on 25 January 1975 with Joan Sutherland, Heather Begg, Clifford Grant and others in aid of Darwin that had been devastated by Cyclone Tracy. The concert was televised and issued on LP by Decca as 'Darwin: Song for a City'.

Scottish Opera, English National Opera

Clark received an offer for a full-time contract with the Scottish Opera, which he accepted. His roles there included Pedrillo in Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', Jaquino in Beethoven's ''Fidelio'', first Zorn and later David in Wagner's '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' and Brighella in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' by Richard Strauss.

He first sang at the English National Opera in 1976, the title role in the British premiere of Ginastera's ''Bomarzo''. He joined the company in 1978, beginning as Rinucchio in Puccini's ''Gianni Schicchi''. Other lead roles there included the title role in Offenbach's ''The Tales of Hoffmann'', Hermann in Tchaikovsky's '' The Queen of Spades'', Mephistopheles in Busoni's ''Doktor Faust'' in the first performance in the UK in 1986, and Alexis in ''The Gambler''. He also performed as Rodolfo in Puccini's ''La bohème'', and Rodney Milnes noted that "the top notes especially had a warm, bronzed quality without any loss of clarity or projection", and that he was able to portrait the character's development from "heedless self-obsession to an awareness heightened by tragedy with great insight". Clark also appeared as Matej Brouček in Janácek's '' The Adventures of Mr Brouček''. He remained with the company until 1985.

He appeared at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff as Loge in Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' and as Kuratov in Janácek's ''From the House of the Dead'', and as Rossini's Count Ory at Opera North.

Bayreuth Festival

Clark became recognised internationally when he appeared at the Bayreuth Festival, first in 1981 as David, which became a signature role. He performed there in 1984 as the Steuermann in ''Der fliegende Holländer'', in 1987 as Melot in ''Tristan und Isolde'', and from 1988 as Loge and Mime in ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', to become the roles for which he is remembered. He performed them first in the production directed by Harry Kupfer and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. His performance as Loge was described: "Preening narcissistically ... in black leather, with a sculpted, blond, 1980s David Bowie-style hairpiece, he deployed a pungent, edgy tone very effectively to display his contempt for Wotan and the other gods." He described the character's music: "At times it is loud and declamatory whilst at others it is beautifully lyrical. It is also tight, brief, mocking, ironic and sarcastic, full of mood changes, with crisp, sharp, pointed and sarcastic alliteration."

He was Loge and Mime again from 2002 in the production by Jürgen Flimm and Ádám Fischer. Clark appeared at the festival in 16 seasons, in 122 performances.

Metropolitan Opera

Clark sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City first in 1985, as Stewa in Janácek's ''Jenůfa''. Other roles there included Herod in '' Salome'' by Richard Strauss, the Captain in Alban Berg's ''Wozzeck'' in 1990, Captain Vere in Britten's '' Billy Budd'' in 1992, and Albert Gregor in Janácek's '' The Makropulos Affair'' in 1996. He participated there in the world premiere of Corigliano's ''The Ghosts of Versailles'' in 1991, described as "the slithery, acrobatic villain" Bégearss, alongside Teresa Stratas as Marie Antoinette. He appeared at the house in 112 performances over 15 seasons. In 1991 he took part in the world premiere of Berio's '' Un re in ascolto'' at the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

Royal Opera House

Clark performed at the Royal Opera House first as Mime in 1995, in the controversial production directed by Richard Jones, leaving a lasting impression o a reviewer from ''The Guardian'' who described the "terrifying sight of Graham Clark as the dwarf Mime, deranged by power lust, staring at the audience with penetrating, unblinking eyes and wearing the dress that belonged to Siegfried's mother, Sieglinde". He performed there also Captain Verve and several minor roles up to 2018. He performed the four ''grotesques'' in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' in 2008, in John Schlesinger's 1980 production. He appeared there as the Marne Seargent in the world premiere of Iain Bell's ''In Parenthesis'', a 2016 coproduction with the Welsh National Opera.

Others

He performed in Amsterdam -where he was very popular - the role of Mime in Wagner's Ring. He performed at Oper Frankfurt as the Fool in Reimann's '' Lear'' and in Janácek's ''The Makropoulos Case'', and returned in the 2010s as Monsieur Taupe in '' Capriccio'' by Richard Strauss. His last role was in the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin's ''Macbeth Underworld'' at La Monnaie in Brussels in September 2019.

Personal life

Clark married Joan Lawrence in 1979. The couple had a daughter. Clark was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and fought the disease for around 20 years, with several surgeries.

Clark died on 6 July 2023, at age 81.

Awards

Clark received nominations for the Opera Awards in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement, in the years 1983, 1986, and 1993. He won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera in 1986 for his role as Mephistopheles in ''Doktor Faust''. He received an Emmy nomination for his role in ''The Ghosts of Versailles'' at the Metropolitan Opera in 1991.The Ghosts of Versailles
Emmys.com, accessed 12 June 2020 He received the Sir Reginald Goodall Memorial Award in 2001, and the Sherwin Award in 2009.

In 1999, Loughborough University awarded Clark an honorary doctorate, and he was made an honorary bachelor of science in 2009.

References

External links

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Graham Clark
Colbert Artists Management


* ttp://www.bruceduffie.com/clark.html Interview with Graham Clarkby Bruce Duffie, 23 January 1992

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Graham
1941 births
2023 deaths
People from Littleborough, Greater Manchester
English operatic tenors
Laurence Olivier Award winners
Alumni of Loughborough University
People educated at Kirkham Grammar School
20th-century British male opera singers
21st-century British male opera singers
Musicians from Lancashire
Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom