Richard Van Allan

Richard Van Allan CBE (28 May 1935 – 4 December 2008) was a versatile British operatic bass singer who had a lengthy career.

He sang varied repertoire at Covent Garden and English National Opera, as well as at numerous important houses worldwide. With his distinctive profile and memorable stage presence, he made a powerful impression in many roles, from Wagner, Verdi and Mozart, to Gilbert and Sullivan. The Times wrote that he embodied "all the virtues that make the complete artist – vocal beauty and technique, musicianship, language, dramatic ability, stylistic authority".

Biography Richard Van Allan was born in Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, on 28 May 1935. He grew up in Derbyshire, singing in the church choir in Bolsover and participated in Gilbert and Sullivan operas at Brunts grammar school in Mansfield. He left school without finishing, becoming a police cadet, and became a constable after completing military service in Germany, where he became more interested in singing. He studied at Worcester Teacher Training College, during which he sang in concerts and performed in more amateur Gilbert and Sullivan productions.

Career Van Allan taught science in Birmingham while studying voice with David Franklin at the Birmingham School of Music. In 1964, he joined the chorus of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, then Sadler's Wells. He also toured with Opera for All. Gilbert and Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance, as the Sergeant of Police (1993, Telarc) Gilbert and Sullivan: H.M.S. Pinafore, as Bill Bobstay (1994, Telarc) Franco Leoni: L'Oracolo (with Tito Gobbi and Joan Sutherland) Mozart: Così fan tutte (with Montserrat Caballé and Janet Baker, conducted by Sir Colin Davis; Grammy Award, 1976) Mozart: Don Giovanni twice (under Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink) Rossini: Il Turco in Italia (with Mirella Freni and James Morris, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, 1983) Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin Vaughan Williams: Hugh the Drover Verdi: Luisa Miller (with Caballé and Luciano Pavarotti) Verdi: La traviata, as Marchese d'Obigny (with Beverly Sills and Nicolai Gedda) William Walton: Troilus and Cressida (with Janet Baker) Kurt Weill: Street Scene other operas of Berlioz, Bizet, Britten, Donizetti, Offenbach, Puccini, Rossini, and Verdi Kismet Oliver! Song of Norway

Video and film recordings Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ (1986; as Herodes) Britten: Gloriana (1984; as Raleigh; conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras) Britten: The Rape of Lucretia (1987; ENO, as Junius; with Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Jean Rigby, and Alan Opie; conducted by Lionel Friend; directed by Michael Simpson) Britten: Billy Budd Britten: Albert Herring (1985; as Mr Budd) Gilbert and Sullivan: The Mikado (1986; ENO, as Pooh Bah) Gilbert and Sullivan: Iolanthe (1982; Brent Walker, as Private Willis) Mozart: The Magic Flute (2003; Second Priest) Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges (1982; as Tchélio) Purcell: The Fairy-Queen (1995; with Yvonne Kenny; conducted by Nicholas Kok) Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress (with Felicity Lott, Samuel Ramey, Rosalind Elias, under Bernard Haitink; designed by David Hockney) Verdi: La traviata (1994; as Baron Duphol; under Sir Georg Solti) "The Temptation of Franz Schubert" (1997 television film; also known as "The Double Life of Franz Schubert"; as Johann).