John Lanigan

John Lanigan (7 January 1921 – 1 August 1996) was an operatic tenor. Born in Australia, he studied singing in Italy and made a 30-year career at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, London from 1951 to 1981. He sang more than 80 roles for the Covent Garden company. In his early years he played leading lyric tenor roles, and later became known for his performances in character parts. He created roles in new operas by, among others, Britten, Tippett, Davies and Henze.

Life and career Lanigan was born in Seddon, Victoria, Australia. His father was a keen amateur tenor and his mother was a professional singer, a member of J. C. Williamson's Gilbert and Sullivan company under the name Lucy Colahan. Lanigan studied with Horace Stevens at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He served in the Royal Australian Corps of Signals during the Second World War, and while still in the armed forces he competed in the Melbourne Sun Aria competition, which he won in 1945. After demobilisation the following year he moved to Europe to study further, first in Milan, and later in London with Dino Borgioli.

Lanigan appeared in a touring production of The Desert Song in 1950, in the dual lead roles of The Red Shadow and Pierre. In 1951 he made his debut with the Covent Garden Opera Company, first in Liverpool and then at the Royal Opera House as Thaddeus in The Bohemian Girl, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. At that time there was a resident company at Covent Garden, of which Lanigan became a long-serving member.

Lanigan declined to pursue an international career. Family life and a liking for being part of a regular team led him to remain based at Covent Garden, where he sang more the 80 roles between 1951 and 1981. Among his later character parts were Mime in Das Rheingold opposite the Alberich of Gustav Neidlinger and Shuisky in Boris Godunov. He created roles in new operas including Jack in The Midsummer Marriage (1955), Hermes in King Priam (1962), the Cardinal in Taverner (1972) and the Soldier/Madman in We Come to the River (1976). In the non-operatic repertoire he sang in Leopold Stokowski's 1961 recording of Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder.