Benjamin Luxon

Benjamin Matthew Luxon CBE (born March 24, 1937 in Redruth, Cornwall, UK) is a retired British baritone.

He studied with Walter Grünner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established an international reputation as a singer when he won a third prize at the 1961 ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Soon afterward he joined composer Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group and on their tour of the Soviet Union in 1963 sang the roles of Sid and Tarquinius in, respectively, Britten's operas "Albert Herring" and "The Rape of Lucretia". In 1971, Britten composed the title role of his television opera "Owen Wingrave" specifically for Luxon's voice; Luxon created the role later that year with the English Opera Group.

The following year, 1972, Luxon made his début at both the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden – creating the role of the Jester in Peter Maxwell Davies' opera "Taverner" – and at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, where he sang the title role in Raymond Leppard's realization of Monteverdi's "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse". Thereafter he became a regular guest at both venues and also at Tanglewood in Massachusetts, USA.

In 1974, Luxon began his long association with the English National Opera which culminated in his appearance in the title role of Verdi's "Falstaff" in 1992. He made his Metropolitan Opera début (as Eugene Onegin) in 1980, his La Scala début in 1986 and his Los Angeles début (as Wozzeck) in 1988. He sang in most of the major European opera houses and made frequent appearances in Munich (Bayerische Staatsoper) and Vienna (Wiener Staatsoper).

In addition to his opera work, Luxon also developed a reputation as a concert-giver and recitalist with an unusually broad repertoire, ranging from early music through Lieder to contemporary song, music hall and folk music. He has also been recognised for his work rehabilitating parlour songs from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, particularly in partnership with Robert Tear. He has made more than a hundred recordings, many featuring early and mid twentieth-century British songwriting and folksong arrangements by composers such as Britten, George Butterworth, Percy Grainger, Ivor Gurney, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Peter Warlock.

In 1990, Luxon's career was jeopardized by sudden hearing loss. He resumed international engagements in 1992, but continued fluctuation and deterioration in his hearing forced him to end his singing career a few years later. Since then, however, he has developed a career as a narrator and poetry reader whilst continuing to give master classes and direct opera.

Luxon was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours. [LondonGazette|issue=50551|supp=yes|startpage=7|endpage=8|date=13 June 1986|accessdate=2008-03-19]

Operatic roles

(Performed and/or recorded, listed alphabetically)

Selected discography

References