The great Cornishman has left us, one of the finest baritones of his generation. Internationally renowned for his operatic work, he had a huge repertoire from Britten to Victorian ballads (with Robert Tear). The most eloquent interpreter of English song, he was able to convey in an intimate way both the poetry and the music to the listener. The over one hundred recordings he made is some compensation for the hearing loss that sadly shortened his singing career.
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Very sad news: his English song recordings are favourites of mine. I had the pleasure of singing with him once: he was very friendly and gave a lovely performance. However, he was already suffering from the hearing problems you mentioned.Comment
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Luxon was a fine soloist in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, even to looking like an Old Testament prophet, and I saw him in that role at the 1986 Proms with Vernon Handley (replacing an ailing Previn).
The last time I saw him was as long ago as 1995 when he took the part of the narrator in Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw with the CBSO and Simon Rattle.
The hearing loss must have been very hard to take, especially as it scuppered his career, and I'd not heard anything about him for many years, though I did listen to his excellent Belshazzar's Feast recording with Previn only a week or two ago.
RIP Benjamin Luxon."The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard HaitinkComment
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I love his recording of Stanford's Songs of the Sea and Songs of the Fleet with Norman Del Mar.
RIPComment
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Agreed - I particularly enjoy his Butterworth and Ireland recordings. It must not be forgotten that he had a wider repertory, mowst of which unfortunately is now download only, including the Morike Lieder of Wolf. which had the misfortune to appear at the same time as Fischer-Dieskau's recordings of these songs. BL also recorded Musorgsky at a time when few British singers sang in Russian. I hope that some of these will be reissued on CD as a tribute.Originally posted by Historian View PostComment
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Vert sad.
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Some lovely tributes here to a great singer. I'd add a couple of things about his operatic life: first, the collaboration with Benjamin Britten, which saw him create a major part specially tailored for him - the title role in Owen Wingrave, following his beautifully-acted and sung Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, which challenged memories of its creator, Otakar Krauss.
Second, that wonderful Don Giovanni in Peter Hall's matchless production of Mozart's opera for Glyndebourne, mixing charm, humour and braggartly bullying in equal measure.
As a 'coda', I must second Keraulophone's mention of his vocal partnership with Robert Tear, in Victorian parlour ballads and duets. Marvellous soul food!Comment
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A terrific singer deserving an R3 tribute programme.Comment
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