Sir Thomas Boaz Allen (born 10 September 1944) is an English operatic baritone. He is widely admired in the opera world for his voice, the versatility of his repertoire, and his acting—leading many to regard him as one of the best lyric baritones of the late 20th century. In October 2011, he was appointed

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of Durham University, succeeding Bill Bryson.

Early years

Born to Florence and Thomas Allen in the mining village of Seaham Harbour, County Durham, in 1944, Thomas Allen studied at Ryhope Grammar School from 1955 to 1964, becoming captain of his house and later head boy while also doing well in sports, such as in athletics, rugby and especially golf. It was during his time at school that his singing voice was first observed by the then Physics master, Denis Weatherley, himself a well-known baritone in the county and especially renowned for Northumberland songs. Weatherley would then go on to be Allen's first tutor, training the young baritone during lunch breaks. Allen's initial ambition was to be a doctor but this was later abandoned when he won a place at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in 1964, where he studied with

Hervey Alan Hervey Alan (22 February 1910 – 12 January 1982) was an English operatic bass and voice teacher. During his career he sang leading roles with most of Great Britain's major opera institutions, including the Edinburgh Festival, the Glyndebou ...

for four years, specialising in oratorio and

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

er until 1968. In his final term he made his operatic stage debut as the baritone lead in the Royal College of Music Opera School production of Arthur Benjamin's opera ''Prima Donna''. He also won the prestigious Queen's Prize while studying at the college which allowed him to study under James Lockhart, who noticed his talents. Under Lockhart, Allen then shifted his attention from Lieder and oratorio to opera and in 1969, he made his debut as D'Obigny in

Verdi's 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 to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on '' La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his o ...

'' with the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

(WNO). His early roles with the WNO also included

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's Almaviva,

Guglielmo Guglielmo () is the Italian form of the masculine name William. It may refer to: People with the given name Guglielmo: * Guglielmo I Gonzaga (1538–1587), Duke of Mantua and Montferrat * Guglielmo Achille Cavellini (1914–1990), influential ...

and Papageno, Rossini's

Figaro Figaro may refer to: Literature * Figaro, the central character in: ** ''The Barber of Seville'' (play), a 1775 play by Pierre Beaumarchais *** ''The Barber of Seville'' (Paisiello), a 1782 opera by Paisiello based on the play *** ''The Bar ...

, Falke in ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'', Billy Budd, Posa, Eugene Onegin and Germont. In 1971, he made his

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

debut as Donald in '' Billy Budd'' and he joined the company the following year. His solo Glyndebourne Festival debut was as Papageno in 1973. On 7 August 1974, during his BBC Proms performance, Allen collapsed at the end of his second solo, tried to recover for his third but collapsed again and was taken from the stage (he was replaced by Patrick McCarthy). He returned as Figaro in Mozart's ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' ( opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It pre ...

'' (1974), Guglielmo (1975) and Don Giovanni (1977) and it was during this time that he was hailed by one music critic as the finest English baritone since Sir Charles Santley.Loppert, Max. ''Opera Magazine'', July 1978 He made his

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

debut in 1981 as Papageno. He left Covent Garden to become a freelance singer in 1979 although he still remains a guest artist with the company. He sang the title role in the British stage premiere of Busoni's '' Doktor Faust'' for the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an 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 Englis ...

in 1986 (a performance which was also commended in the 1986 Laurence Olivier Awards when the production won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera), while his debut at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

was as Ulisse in

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is conside ...

's ''

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' ( SV 325, ''The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland'') is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera was first ...

'' in 1985. His Chicago debut was Rossini's Figaro in ''The Barber of Seville'' in 1989.

Present work

More recently, Allen has performed Eisenstein in ''

'', Don Alfonso, Ulisse and Don Giovanni at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Don Giovanni at La Scala, Yeletsky (in '' The Queen of Spades''), Sharpless (in '' Madama Butterfly''), and the title role in '' Sweeney Todd'' at the Royal Opera House, Eisenstein at the Glyndebourne Festival, Don Alfonso at the Salzburg Easter and Summer Festivals, Forester ('' The Cunning Little Vixen'') at the San Francisco Opera and Beckmesser (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 traditi ...

'') at the

in New York. Allen also appears in recital in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, in Australia and America, with his recital repertoire no less extensive than his operatic one; ranging from German Lieder, French songs by

Duparc Eugène Marie Henri Fouques Duparc (21 January 1848 – 12 February 1933) was a French composer of the late Romantic period. Biography Son of Charles Fouques-Duparc and Amélie de Guaita. Henri Fouques-Duparc was born in Paris. He studie ...

, and English song cycles by Ralph Vaughan Williams to musical numbers by Rodgers and Hammerstein,

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

and

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

. He has also recorded oratorio and choral works such as Brahms' '' Ein deutsches Requiem'', Handel's ''

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

'', and Orff's '' Carmina Burana''. The greatest part of his repertoire has been extensively recorded with such distinguished conductors as Sir

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-serving ...

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...

, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Riccardo Muti. In 1989, he was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). In 1999, he was knighted. Both awards were for his services to opera. In 1998 he was named a member of the Royal Opera's Opera Advisory Board, the first time a singer had been given such an appointment. Allen's first book, ''Foreign Parts – A Singer's Journal'' was published in 1993. In November 2002, he directed for the first time in Britten's '' Albert Herring'' at the

. Other directorial credits include Mozart's '' Così fan tutte'' and '' Don Giovanni'' (for Samling, of which he is the patron) at Sage Gateshead. In 2006, he made his American directorial debut with a production of

's ''

'' for

Arizona Opera Arizona Opera is an opera company which operates in both Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. History Arizona Opera was established in 1971 as the Tucson Opera Company, under founding general director James P. Sullivan, and presented its first produc ...

. In 2007, he directed a new production of '' The Barber of Seville'' for Scottish Opera. He has directed a new production of ''The Marriage of Figaro'' for the company which premiered in Glasgow in October 2010. He also performed as the Narrator/Dr. Pangloss in the 2005 concert of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

's '' Candide'' at Avery Fisher Hall at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, New York City. Allen has now performed at Covent Garden for over 35 years, recently having played in total 50 roles with the company, with Faninal from Richard Strauss' '' Der Rosenkavalier'' marking his 50th role in December 2009. The 25th anniversary of his debut at the Metropolitan Opera was celebrated in 2006. Allen has also been revealed as being the model and inspiration in developing the now famous character of Billy Elliot in the play of the same name by Lee Hall. In September 2008, he performed under the direction of

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

's ''

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 Pucc ...

'' for the Los Angeles Opera as well as at the Spoleto Festival in June 2009. The year 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of his professional debut at the WNO in 1969, also marking the four decades he has been in the opera world. During the same year, he took part in the annual BBC Proms, singing songs from numerous MGM musicals such as '' Gigi'', '' Kismet'' and '' On the Town'' at the Royal Albert Hall, London. In the 2009/10 opera season, he appeared in operas in America, Germany and the United Kingdom; as Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, Don Alfonso in ''Così fan tutte'', Prosdocimo in '' Il turco in Italia'' and Gianni Schicchi at Covent Garden. On 11 October 2011 Allen was appointed

of Durham University by the University's Convocation, to serve from 1 January 2012 in succession to Bill Bryson. His first concert with the university took place in

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of ...

on 1 June 2013, appearing alongside over 100 student performers. On 27 January 2012, Allen marked his 40th anniversary at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, singing the rôle of Don Alfonso in ''Così fan tutte''. On 4 November 2021, Durham University announced Allen would step down from his role as Chancellor in July 2022. In 2015, he sang the rôle of Baron Zeta in the Metropolitan Opera's production of

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life ...

's operetta '' The Merry Widow'', which he reprised at the Met in 2017.''

Personal life

He is a supporter of Sunderland A.F.C. In 2011, he took part in the Sunderland A.F.C. charity Foundation of Light event.

Honours

*Bayerischer Kammersänger, awarded by the Bavarian State Opera *Honorary Membership of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

*Visiting Professor of Singing at the

*Hambro Visiting Professorship of Opera Studies at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

*Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford *

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship of the

*Fellowship of the

University of Sunderland , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Eme ...

* M.A. from University of Newcastle * Doctor of Music (DMus) degree from Durham University and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

. *In the 1989

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark th ...

he was created a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) *In the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours he was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are t ...

and therefore a sir *

The Queen's Medal for Music The King's Medal for Music (or the Queen's Medal for Music during the reign of a queen) is an annual award, instituted in 2005, for contribution to the musical life of Great Britain. The Medal may be awarded to people of any nationality. The expe ...

2013. His film credits include ''The Real Don Giovanni'' and '' Mrs Henderson Presents''.

References

External links

Interview with Thomas Allen
by Bruce Duffie, 18 December 1989 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Thomas 1944 births Living people People from Seaham Academics of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the Royal College of Music Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English operatic baritones Grammy Award winners Knights Bachelor Singers awarded knighthoods Musicians from County Durham Chancellors of Durham University

Early years

Present work

Personal life

Honours

See also

References

External links