Gwynne Howell (born 13 June 1938) is a Welsh

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, known particularly for his performances of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

and

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

roles.

Life and career

Born in

Gorseinon Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century, when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is around north west of Swansea Ci ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, he studied at the RMCM, where he sang Leporello in concert, and

Hunding Hunding is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...

Fasolt Fasolt, Fasold or Vasolt is a giant or knight who appears in the following works: *The Middle High German heroic poem ''Eckenlied'' (c. 1230). *The Old Norse compendium of German legends known as the '' Thidrekssaga'' (c. 1250). *Richard Wagner's ...

, and Pogner in staged performances. He joined the

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

in 1968, and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in 1970. He was also a regular guest at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

and the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

. His roles have included most of the major bass roles of the Verdi and Wagner repertories, such as:

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

, Sparafucile, Ferrando, Padre Guardiano, Phillip II,

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

Hans Sachs Hans Sachs (5 November 1494 – 19 January 1576) was a German ''Meistersinger'' ("mastersinger"), poetry, poet, playwright, and shoemaking, shoemaker. Biography Hans Sachs was born in Nuremberg (). As a child he attended a singing school that w ...

, Gurnemanz, etc. He continued into his seventies to sing small roles on stage: Simone in ''

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...

'' at the

in 2009 and 2016, Titurel from ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

'' at the

in 2007 under

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...

, and Schigolch in ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

'' at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in 2010. Howell took part in the premieres of two of

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

's works, '' Taverner'' and '' The Doctor of Myddfai''. He can be heard in studio recordings, as Jero in ''L'assedio di Corinto'', Count Walter in ''Luisa Miller'', and as Capulet in a live recording of ''

I Capuleti e i Montecchi ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...

'', opposite

Agnes Baltsa Agni Baltsa (; also known as Agnes Baltsa; born 19 November 1944) is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano singer. Baltsa was born in Lefkada. She began playing piano at the age of seven, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing. She gr ...

and

Edita Gruberova Edita (E-dee-ta) is a Slavic female first name, a form of Edith. It may refer to: *Edita Abdieski (born 1984), Swiss singer * Edita Adlerová (born 1971), Czech opera singer * Edita Aradinović (born 1993), Serbian singer * Edita Brychta (born 1961 ...

, under

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

, at Covent Garden, in 1984.

Sources

* ''Grove Music Online'', Max Loppert, Oxford University Press, 2008.

External links

Interview with Gwynne Howell
October 23, 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Gwynne 1938 births Living people 20th-century Welsh male opera singers Welsh basses British operatic basses Musicians from Swansea 21st-century Welsh male opera singers