John Shirley-Quirk facts for kids

John Stanton Shirley-Quirk (born August 28, 1931, died April 7, 2014) was a famous English singer. He was a bass-baritone, which means he had a deep singing voice.

He was part of the English Opera Group from 1964 to 1976. During this time, he sang in the very first performances of many operas and songs by the famous composer Benjamin Britten. He also recorded these songs with Britten himself leading the music. John Shirley-Quirk sang and recorded music by many other composers too, like Handel, Tchaikovsky, and Henze.

His Life and Music

John Shirley-Quirk was born in Liverpool, England. When he was young, he sang in the choir at Holt High School. He also played the violin and won a special award (a scholarship) for his talent.

While he was studying chemistry and physics at the University of Liverpool, he also took singing lessons with Austen Carnegie. Before becoming a full-time singer, he worked as a chemistry lecturer at Acton Technical College until 1957. During this time, he continued his singing studies with Roy Henderson.

He joined a singing group called the Purcell Singers and performed at the Aldeburgh Festival. From 1961 to 1962, he was also a lay-clerk at St Paul's Cathedral, which means he was a singer in the church choir.

Starting His Opera Career

In 1961, John Shirley-Quirk was a backup singer for a role in the British premiere of Henze's opera Elegy for Young Lovers at the Glyndebourne Festival. The next year, he made his official opera debut in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, playing the Doctor.

In 1963, he sang as a soloist in Bach's Christmas Oratorio. The famous composer Benjamin Britten was in the audience and introduced himself to John. Soon after, in 1964, John Shirley-Quirk joined Britten's English Opera Group (EOG).

Working with Benjamin Britten

His first role with the EOG was creating the part of the ferryman in Britten's opera Curlew River. He also sang in the first performances of Canticle IV: Journey of the Magi.

With the EOG, he made his debut at the Covent Garden in 1973. Britten wrote special parts for him in the opera Death in Venice. In this opera, John Shirley-Quirk played several different characters who were against the main character, Gustav von Aschenbach. He also performed this same role at New York's Metropolitan Opera the following year. In 1974, he sang at the Last Night of the Proms in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast.

Other Important Roles

With Scottish Opera, he sang many different roles, including Count Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Don Alfonso, and Eugene Onegin. He also created the role of Gil-Martin in Thomas Wilson's opera Confessions of a Justified Sinner in 1976.

John Shirley-Quirk was known for his beautiful singing in many concert pieces. He was especially good at singing Friar Lawrence in Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette. He also sang solos in Bach's Passions, Handel's oratorios, Haydn's The Creation and The Seasons, Brahms's German Requiem, and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. He recorded The Dream of Gerontius with Britten conducting.

In 1977, he created the role of Lev in Tippett's opera The Ice Break at Covent Garden. He was also known for his smart and thoughtful way of singing German songs (lieder), French songs (mélodies), and English songs.

Recordings and Later Career

John Shirley-Quirk made many recordings. These include many of Britten's works and Mahler's Eighth Symphony with Sir Georg Solti. He also recorded Vaughan Williams' vocal works. He was part of the first recording of Delius's Requiem in 1968. One of his early recordings was the first complete version of Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel.

People described his singing as "authoritative yet richly communicative." His voice was said to have an "oiled-teak smoothness," which helped listeners feel the deep meaning of the music.

In 1982, John Shirley-Quirk became an associate artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival. From 1991, he taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Personal Life

In 1975, John Shirley-Quirk was given a special honor called a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

He was married to Patricia Hastie, who passed away in 1981. Later, he married oboist Sara Watkins, who passed away in 1997. In 2009, he married cellist Teresa Perez. John Shirley-Quirk died from cancer on April 7, 2014, in Bath, at the age of 82.

See also

In Spanish: John Shirley-Quirk para niños