- Harry Theyard
Harry Theyard (né Harry L Theard, Jr),
tenor , is a native ofNew Orleans and is a 1957 graduate ofLoyola University of the South , where he studied under Dorothy Hulse, who was also the teacher ofAudrey Schuh andCharles Anthony . He began his career with theNew Orleans Opera Association in secondary parts, including appearances in "Salome" (withAstrid Varnay , 1949), "Le nozze di Figaro" and "Il trovatore" (oppositeHerva Nelli , 1958).New York City Opera
The "spinto" tenor debuted with the
New York City Opera in 1959, in "The Devil and Daniel Webster", directed byJohn Houseman . He went on to sing in the world premieres of Ward's "The Crucible" (starringChester Ludgin ), Floyd's "The Passion of Jonathan Wade" (withPhyllis Curtin ), and Menotti's "The Most Important Man" (conducted byChristopher Keene ). By 1970, Theyard was one of the City Opera's leading tenors, appearing in "Madama Butterfly", "Mefistofele" (oppositeNorman Treigle ), "Louise", "The Makropoulos Case", "Carmen", "Susannah", "Tosca" (withMarisa Galvany ), "Cavalleria rusticana", "Les contes d'Hoffmann", "Turandot" and "La fanciulla del West".Metropolitan Opera
In 1966, he first appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera , in "La traviata" and "La bohème". In 1973, Theyard sang in "Manon Lescaut" at the Spoleto Festival, withNancy Shade and directed byLuchino Visconti . From 1974, he returned to the Met for an impressive string of operas: "Les contes d'Hoffmann" (with DameJoan Sutherland ), "Manon Lescaut", "Madama Butterfly", "Cavalleria rusticana", Grigori in "Boris Godounov", "La forza del destino" (directed byJohn Dexter ), "L'assedio di Corinto" (Beverly Sills 's house debut) and "Il tabarro". From 1976, he returned to his native city for starring roles in "Manon Lescaut", "Lucia di Lammermoor", "Andrea Chénier", "La bohème" and "Carmen" (oppositeShirley Verrett ).Broadway
Mr Theyard also appeared on Broadway, in the original productions of "
Man of La Mancha " (as Anselmo the muleteer, 1965) and "A Time for Singing " (as Owen Morgan, 1966). The latter was a musical version of "How Green Was My Valley ", and was not a success; "Man of La Mancha", on the other hand, was an enormous hit and has become a musical classic. In it, Mr Theyard introduced the song "Little Bird, Little Bird."In 1975, he appeared on television in the
CBS Christmas special , "A Handful of Souls."Operatic discography
* Rossini: "L'assedio di Corinto" (Sills, Verrett, Díaz; Schippers, 1974)
EMI
* Refice: "Cecilia": abridged (Scotto; Campori, 1976) [live] VAIMusical-theatre discography
* Leigh, Darion: "Man of La Mancha" (Kiley, Diener, original cast, 1966) MCA
References
* "The New York City Opera: An American Adventure", by Martin L Sokol (Annals by George Louis Mayer), Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc, 1981. ISBN 0-02-612280-4
* "From Loyola to the Metropolitan and City Operas," programme note by Brian Morgan, for "Loyola to the Met," October 1, 1999.
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