A. Ryan Allen (May 15, 1943 – December 11, 2018) was an American

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 ...

singer best known for his work in

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 ...

. He performed professionally in all 50 states, appeared with numerous American opera companies, and sang as a soloist in Russia, Israel, Poland, Norway and Sweden.

Career

The singer debuted 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 1993 as Hans Foltz in ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'' by

Richard 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 ...

. Coming to opera from the field of acting, the bass's repertoire favored roles with character development and stage movement. These roles ranged from the comic Don Basilio in ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' by

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

to the pathetic

Candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

in ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...

'' by

Carlisle Floyd Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American So ...

. Allen also appeared as an oratorio soloist with various symphony orchestras and oratorio societies. In 1989 he debuted at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, singing the bass solos in Mozart's ''Requiem''. Allen was a lyric bass capable of singing the deepest pitches composed in opera. He performed the role of Seneca in ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Buse ...

'' by Monteverdi, which requires a low D. Although primarily an exponent of the great ''buffo'' roles, the bass demonstrated versatility. He performed not only in opera and oratorio, but also in the musical theater field (Judge Turpin in ''Sweeney Todd'') and the operetta field in

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

roles, such as the title character in ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''. The ability to sing in diverse musical styles was underscored when he sang ''A Kurt Weill Cabaret'' with

Martha Schlamme Martha Schlamme (née Haftel; September 25, 1923 – October 6, 1985) was an Austrian-born American singer and actress. She was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Vienna, Austria in 1923. Her parents were Meier Haftel and Gisa Braten. Fo ...

. He participated in several world premieres, including ''My Friend's Story'' by

Martin Bresnick Martin Bresnick (born 1946) is a composer of contemporary classical music, film scores and experimental music. Education and early career Bresnick grew up in the Bronx, and is a graduate of New York City's specialized High School of Music and A ...

at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, ''Holy Blood and Crescent Moon'' by

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the British rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Polic ...

with the Cleveland Opera, and ''The Cask of Amontillado'' by Russell Currie with the Bronx Arts Ensemble in the Bronx, New York, followed by revivals off-broadway at the Vital Theater, Golden Fleece, Ltd. and

Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theat ...

. ''Caliban'', a monodrama using the words of the character

Caliban Caliban ( ), the subhuman son of the sea witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own w ...

from Shakespeare's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

,'' was written for and dedicated to him by Russell Currie. Ryan Allen can be heard as Elviro on a 1994 recording of Handel's ''Xerxes'' (Koch Schwann), in recordings of Russell Currie's music on the High Fire label, and seen as Betto on a video of ''

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 ...

'' (Metropolitan Opera Guild).

Education

Born in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, Allen attended school in Columbia, the city of his birth, and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, graduating from the latter at Thomas Jefferson High School. He demonstrated talent early, singing the lead in his junior high school musical while still a

boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with a voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America too) no m ...

. In high school, he played as first

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

in the band and sang in the ''A Cappella Choir''. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from

Austin College Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...

, and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, the bass continued his training in the

Merola Opera Program The San Francisco Opera Center (SFOC) is the San Francisco Opera's professional training center for opera singers. Based in San Francisco, it encompasses two different professional tracks for training: a summer training program known as the Merola ...

and with

Boris Goldovsky Boris Goldovsky (Борис Анисимович Голдовский; June 7, 1908 - February 15, 2001) was a Russian-born conductor and broadcast commentator, active in the United States. He has been called an important "popularizer" of opera in ...

. He lived in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

Notes

External links

Ryan Allen as Don Basilio in ''The Barber of Seville''

* ttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jan-25-ca-1547-story.html Ryan Allen as Pistola in ''Falstaff''
Ryan Allen at FrequencyBox.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Ryan American operatic basses University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni People from Edgewater, New Jersey 1943 births 2018 deaths Musicians from Columbia, South Carolina Thomas Jefferson High School (Dallas) alumni 20th-century American male opera singers 21st-century American male opera singers Singers from New Jersey Classical musicians from New Jersey Singers from South Carolina Classical musicians from South Carolina