Wales has been known as the Land of Song for many years, and this reputation has not come from nothing. With a rich history of choral singing, Male Voice Choirs and celebrities like Tom Jones, Katherine Jenkins and Charlotte Church, it is perhaps no surprise that Wales has produced its fair share of operatic talent over the years. We’ve listed some of Wales’ Opera Superstars before, and here are the next few on our list.
First on today’s list is Mostyn Thomas, a baritone who was born in Blaina, Monmouthshire in 1896. Like many young men who were born in the late 19th century in Wales, Thomas went to work in the local colliery at a young age. Mostyn’s incredible voice was discovered during the Ammanford Eisteddfod, and the community of Blaina came together and collected money to send him to the legendary La Scala theatre in Milan to receive formal training. In 1929 he made his professional debut as Tonio in Leoncavallo’s classic opera, Pagliacci. He also performed the traditional Welsh folk song ‘Dafydd y Garreg Wen’ in the inaugural broadcast of the BBC in Wales in 1923, becoming the first person to sing a Welsh language song on air.
Cardiff born baritone Jeremy Huw Williams is another fine exponent of Welsh vocal talent. Williams made his debut with Welsh National Opera in the role of Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and has gone on to perform more than 60 operatic roles across the world. Away from the stage, Williams has become a prolific recording artist, releasing more than 10 CD’s, and regularly performs the works of Welsh composers, such as Alun Hoddinott, William Mathias and Mansel Thomas. He appeared as a principal singer with Welsh National Opera at the opening night of Wales Millennium Centre, and soon after was awarded the inaugural Sir Geraint Evans Award from the Welsh Music Guild, in recognition of his significant contribution to music in Wales.
Last on our list today is baritone Roderick Jones who had performed for Sadlers Wells and Welsh National Opera in the early years of the Company. Born into a coal mining family in 1910, Jones left to study at the Royal Academy of Music. However, his studies were interrupted by the Second World War, in which he left his education to serve in the Royal Navy. Following the end of the war, Jones was engaged by Sadlers Wells where he made his professional operatic debut as Balstrode in the world premiere of Britten’s Peter Grimes. He went on to join Welsh National Opera in 1951 and remained there for the rest of his career. Following his retirement, Jones went on to teach in the Jamaica School of Music and Aberystwyth University College.
Wales’ operatic men are not confined to the past, with Pembrokeshire born tenor Trystan Llŷr Griffiths performing the role of Tamino in this Season’s brand new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and a number of Welsh singers like Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Mark Llewelyn Evans and WNO Associate Artist Dafydd Allen tackling our brand new opera, Blaze of Glory!. You can catch these Welsh performers this Spring.