George James Lambert (17 December 1900 – 13 September 1971) was an English

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

and voice teacher who was primarily active in Canada. Lambert was born in

Long Preston Long Preston is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, in the Yorkshire Dales. It lies along the A65 road, and is from Skipton and from Settle. The population of Long Preston in 2001 was 680, increasing to 74 ...

. Following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he studied singing in his native country with Frederic Lord while concurrently playing soccer professionally. He was highly active as an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

singer in England during the early 1920s. In 1923 he relocated to Rome, where he studied

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 ...

with Alfredo Martino. He made his professional opera debut in Rome soon after as Giorgio Germont in

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

's '' La Traviata''. He returned to England, where he became a frequent soloist on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

during the late 1920s. During this time Sir Henry Wood was his vocal coach. Lambert relocated to Canada in the early 1930s to continue vocal studies with Lord who now resided in Ontario. He performed in concerts with symphony orchestras and with opera companies in many Canadian cities during the 1930s and 1940s. He was particularly active as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO); notably performing the part of Christus in the TSO's annual presentations of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of th ...

'' with conductor Sir Ernest MacMillan and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir every year from 1938 to 1945. One of his final performances was as Cathva in the world premiere Healey Willan's opera ''

Deirdre Deirdre ( , ; ) is a tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is also known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows" (). Deirdre is a prominent figure in Irish legend. American scholar James MacKillop (author), James MacKil ...

'' which was broadcast live on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

on 20 April 1946. Lambert retired from the stage in 1946 and thereafter dedicated his life to teaching. He had joined the voice faculty of the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1932, and he continued to teach there until his death nearly 40 years later. A large number of his pupils have had successful singing careers, including Léonard Bilodeau, Jean Bonhomme, Pierre Boutet, Victor Braun, John Dodington, Audrey Farnell, Don Garrard,

Robert Goulet Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American‐Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Canad ...

, Doreen Hume, Gwenlynn Little, Phyllis Mailing, Ermanno Mauro, Joan Maxwell, David Mills, Peter Milne, Bernard Turgeon,

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a s ...

, Alan Woodrow, and Lesia Zubrack Romanoff. He died in 1971 at the age of 70 in Toronto.

References

External references

Archival collection
a
University of Toronto Music Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert. George 1900 births 1971 deaths Voice teachers English operatic baritones People from Long Preston Academic staff of The Royal Conservatory of Music English emigrants to Canada 20th-century English male opera singers