David Ward A Great Wagnerian Bass

[Slarty]

David Ward, a magnificent Bass/Bass-Baritone sang mainly at Covent Garden from 1959 to 1978 and would have been a far “greater name”
had he not been so pre-disposed to having good summer holidays.
Having sung Titurel in the 1960 Bayreuth Parsifal he was invited back for 1961 as Fasolt in Das Rheingold in which he made a great impression. He was at this time studying the Wotan roles With Hans Hotter in Munich in able to sing with Solti at Covent Garden in the new Ring Cycle which Hotter was producing. Hotter recommended Ward to Wieland Wagner as a good alternative Wotan for future years
but Ward disliked the working atmosphere at Bayreuth so much that he never returned. Had he sang a few more years there his reputation would have grown so that today he would be well remembered. He combined the two Fachs (Bass and Bass-Baritone) all through the sixties and seventies. Singing King Henry in Lohengrin under Klemperer in 1963 and Pogner under Kempe in the same year at CG.
Neither of these were broadcast so we can only imagine his Lohengrin role. As for Pogner we have two preserved performance –
1 1969 at CG With Thomas Hofmann Evans under Solti and
2 1976 with Bailey Ester Gray and Hemsley under Gibson at Scottish Opera in Glasgow.
a superb Pogner – he deserves to be heard.
He was also, again like Hotter, equally at home singing the title role of Der Fliegende Holländer.
There are two superb preserved performances available
1 1965 MET with Rysanek Tozzi and conducted by Karl Böhm
2 1966 CG with Gwyneth Jones Frick and conducted by Solti.
two magnificent performances.
Lastly as Marke in Tristan und Isolde with Nilsson and Thomas under Solti at CG 1971 is also worth hearing.
He was also a great Verdi Bass, distinguishing himself as either Philip or the Inquisitor in Don Carlo, Padre Guardiano, Zaccaria and many others, but those are not for this forum.
A voice well worth investigating and all performances are available here and in good sound.

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