Edgar Evans (tenor) - Later Career

Later Career

Within three weeks of returning from Ricci in Rome, the higher part of his vocal range now completely secure, Evans sang Calaf in Turandot under the baton of Sir John Barbirolli. He regularly demonstrated his remarkable strength of voice by singing several major roles including Pinkerton (in Madama Butterfly), Don Jose (Carmen), Max (Der Freischütz) and Peter Grimes in the same week.

Eventually the stress of this punishing schedule caught up with him and he was forced to rest for 20 weeks. After this he never resumed the preeminence among principal tenors at Covent Garden that had been his.

Subsequently, he conducted his share of masterclasses and adjudicated at singing competitions. Even in his later years, he had a regular procession of singers all anxious to learn his secrets of vocal technique and his opinion of their vocal talents and abilities.

On his retirement from Covent Garden, Evans was invited by Sir David Willcocks to join the teaching staff at the Royal College of Music. For ten years he taught vocal technique there and many singers can pay tribute to his masterly teaching.

His final public appearance as a soloist was at the wedding of Robert (Bob) and Helen Little, at Marshalswick Baptist Free Church, St Albans, on 18 October 1980. He sang "Ombra mai fù" from Handel's opera Xerxes.

He sang with leading singers; with leading orchestras, both in Britain and in Europe, and worked with leading conductors including Erich Kleiber, Karl Rankl, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Sir Georg Solti, Otto Klemperer, Rudolf Kempe and Carlo Maria Giulini. Among those to whom he felt he owed a special debt of gratitude was Peter Gellhorn who, as a repetiteur and conductor at Covent Garden, taught Evans the part of Hermann in The Queen of Spades in the remarkably short time of just 14 hours.

He sang the title role in Peter Grimes and Captain Vere (Billy Budd) after Peter Pears had initially brought these characters to theatrical life. He sang Dmitri in Boris Godunov, in English, under Clemens Krauss, and later in Russian; Steva in Janáček's Jenůfa under Rafael Kubelík; the Drum Major in Alban Berg's Wozzeck, under Kleiber; Calaf in Turandot under Barbirolli and many more roles. Barbirolli and Kleiber were among Evans' favourite conductors, closely followed by Kempe and Giulini.

Only the recording studio failed to do justice to Evans's robust, romantic voice. Appearances as Melot in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (HMV) under Furtwängler; Britten's Albert Herring (Decca), with the composer conducting, and his recording of "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot are all that remain to stir the memory.

He married Nan (née Walters, died December 1998) on 19 August 1939. Their son Huw died in June 1999, and Evans had two grandchildren; Rebecca and Edward. Evans himself died in Northwick Park Hospital Harrow.