Born into a Yorkshire working-class family, Walter Widdop began his working life with part-time employment in a local woollen mill when he was only twelve years old and still at school. During his teens he sang in local church choirs; but although in his own words ‘I warbled as I worked’ he had no idea of becoming a professional singer until encouraged by his workmates, one colleague commenting: ‘If I’d thy voice and my brains I’d mak’ some brass.’

Widdop therefore studied with Arthur Hinchcliffe, a good teacher who had in turn studied with Santley and García. He practised hard, won numerous singing competitions and secured several (although poorly paid) engagements. During World War I Widdop served in the British army and married in 1917. Recognising that opera and ‘high-class music’ must be his professional goal, in 1922 he auditioned in Bradford for Percy Pitt of the British National Opera Company (BNOC). Although Pitt was not enthusiastic, another member of the company, the bass Norman Allin, was highly supportive and recommended further study.

Duly encouraged, Widdop and his wife moved to London where he became a pupil of the baritones Charles Victor, of the Carl Rosa Company, and Dinh Gilly. The following year, 1923, he auditioned for Pitt again who immediately booked him to sing Radamès / Aida with the BNOC in Leeds. Press reviews were excellent and three months later Widdop made his debut with this company at the Royal Opera House, London in the title role of Siegfried – going straight onto the Covent Garden stage after rehearsing at home with Victor and receiving an ovation from the audience after each of the first two acts (in fact the performance ended with the first act of Die Walküre, with Walter Hyde singing Siegmund, as the scheduled Brünnhilde, Florence Austral, was unable to appear in the final act of Siegfried).

Given his magnificent voice, Widdop was quickly contracted to HMV and recorded much of the key Wagnerian repertoire, often with Albert Coates conducting. He soon became Britain’s leading heroic tenor in both opera and concert, singing throughout the 1920s with the BNOC in a wide repertoire that included heavy Wagnerian parts such as the title role in Tannhäuser; he also created the part of Bagoas in the 1924 premiere of Eugene Goossens’s opera Judith at Covent Garden. During the 1927–1928 season he sang at the Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona and in 1928 was invited to take part in the International Season at Covent Garden, singing Renaud in Gluck’s Armide opposite Frida Leider as well as appearing with the soprano Lilian Stiles-Allen in Handel’s Rodelinda. Thereafter Widdop appeared frequently among London’s international casts as Siegmund / Die Walküre (1932), Tristan / Tristan und Isolde (1933, 1937, 1938) and Max / Der Freischütz (1935). He sang the Drum Major in the British premiere of Berg’s Wozzeck under Boult in 1934 and took the title part in the first London performance of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex under Ernest Ansermet in 1936.

Widdop was also extremely active in oratorio, appearing throughout the British Isles. He sang the title part in Handel’s Solomon with Beecham conducting in a Royal Philharmonic Society concert in 1928, took part in the first English performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Wood in 1930, and sang in excerpts from Elgar’s The Kingdom with Boult conducting in 1932. Abroad, he appeared in Holland and Germany and toured Australia in 1935; and was one of the four featured tenors to participate in the premiere of Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, again with Wood conducting, in 1938.

During World War II Widdop was active with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association), touring Canada, the Middle East and South Africa to entertain the troops. After the end of the war he experienced bouts of ill-health but was still able to sing Aegisth / Elektra for Beecham in 1947, to perform at the opening ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games in London and to sing Parsifal for Boult in 1949. His final performance was at the Proms in September 1949, when he sang Lohengrin’s ‘Farewell’ but collapsed immediately afterwards and died the following day from a heart attack.

Widdop’s magnificent tenor voice was supported by a strong technique, heroic stamina and a continuously warm tone. His recordings, especially of Wagner, are outstanding.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Patmore (A–Z of Singers, Naxos 8.558097-100).