Norman Platt

Norman Platt (1920 − 2004) was a singer and opera director, and artistic director in charge of Kent Opera from its beginnings to its enforced closure in 1989. His singing career covered membership of the Deller Consort and Sadler's Wells Opera, and he also translated opera libretti.

Life and Career Platt was born in Bury on 29 August 1920 and began piano lessons at six years; by nine he was a paid member of the parish choir in Bury where he later attended the Grammar School. Aged 15 he was taken to Munich and Bayreuth and was overwhelmed by his exposure to Wagner in the theatre. joining the chapel choir; upon graduation, as a pacifist he became an air-raid warden. In 1947 he gave a solo recital at Wigmore Hall with Gerald Moore, and later that year played Feste in Twelfth Night in Regent's Park. and later Atalanta, Fidelio and Don Giovanni among others.

He founded Kent Opera in 1969 and received critical acclaim for the clarity and imagination of its productions, of which Norman Platt directed 17; in total 60 productions were mounted by Kent Opera and toured within the UK and in Europe. He was also noted for helping young directors - such as Jonathan Miller and Nicholas Hytner and singers get started. The effective closure of Kent Opera in 1989 due to the withdrawal of all funding from the Arts Council was a controversial decision which generated protest.

In 1981 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law by the University of Kent, and an OBE in 1985. and died in Ashford on 4 January 2004.

Platt sang Filch and Jeremy Twitcher for the performances of The Beggar's Opera by the English Opera Group under Benjamin Britten in 1948, and this was issued on CDs in 2006. He also took part in audio recordings by the Deller Consort of music by Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Purcell (including roles in The Fairy-Queen), and Weelkes.

In his Opera magazine obituary, Rodney Milnes wrote "He was a true maverick, a North Country Diaghilev, a personality that the 'polite' UK arts establishment found it hard to cope with. He was without doubt one of the most significant figures in British opera in the second half of the 20th century".