Donald Smith (singer)
Encyclopedia
Donald Sydney Smith OBE (27 July 19201 December 1998) was an Australian operatic tenor
. His voice had a bright Italianate quality, which could match in size, carrying power and tonal allure the voices of most sopranos and mezzos. He attracted a fiercely loyal public following, and many Australians who had no prior experience of opera became opera lovers through Smith's work. His performances were regularly sold out.
was born, and his two daughters Deanna and Beth were born in 1943 and 1945 respectively.
On 4 October 1941, during World War II, Smith enlisted in the Australian Army
. He served at Milne Bay
in New Guinea
. It was in New Guinea while serving as private and a machine gunner that he was wounded in the right hand by friendly fire
after being mistaken for the enemy, while setting up range markers for the guns. He was first transported to an American based hospital ship for treatment of his injuries. The Australian Army at that time were unaware of where he was being treated. Therefore it was during this time that his wife Joyce (who was on her way to hospital to deliver their first daughter Deanna) was advised by the Army that he was "missing in action, believed to be deceased". He was discharged on 28 October 1943 as a private from the 47th Battalion
. During recuperation for his injuries and after being being repatriated to Australia, his family were then advised that he was still alive.
Smith began his career singing on the local radio station 4BU Bundaberg, singing mainly country and western
songs. His first singing teacher was a lady named Kate Gratehead. It was she who helped him refine his musical ability and vocal technique for his natural tenor voice. After the birth of their third child, Smith and his wife left Bundaberg and relocated firstly to Toowoomba and then to Brisbane
. Here Smith became acquainted with the well known band leader J.J. Kelly. Under Kelly's direction, Smith performed the tenor roles in his first operas, including the lead tenor role in Sir Edward German
's Merrie England
in Brisbane in 1944. He also performed the lead tenor role in Michael William Balfe
's The Bohemian Girl
and the role of 'Don Caesar de Bazen' in William Vincent Wallace
's Maritana
.
In 1948 he joined the Brisbane Opera Society, and sang roles such as Don José (Carmen
), the title role in Faust
, the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto
), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette
) and Canio (Pagliacci
). Canio was a role with which he became particularly associated. In 1952 he began two years of study at London's National School of Opera
, after winning the 'Mobil Quest' singing competition. He returned to Australia, and sang with an Italian touring company in 1955, alongside singers such as Gabriella Tucci
and Ken Neate
. In 1958 he appeared with the then Elizabeth Trust Opera Company
, singing Count Almaviva (The Barber of Seville
) and Tamino (The Magic Flute
). In 1960 he sang Pinkerton opposite Dame Joan Hammond
's Madama Butterfly
.
He made his Sadler's Wells
debut in England in 1962, where he performed many Verdi
operas such as Attila
. He also sang at the Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden
, where he made his debut as Calaf in Turandot
opposite the English soprano Amy Shuard
. He made his career in the UK for six years, returning in 1967 to sing with the Australian Opera
in roles such as Canio, Manrico (Il trovatore
), Bob Boles (Peter Grimes
), the Duke of Mantua, Dick Johnson (The Girl of the Golden West
), Cavaradossi (Tosca
), Radames (Aida
), and the King (A Masked Ball
). He also appeared in German roles, such as Florestan in Fidelio
.
In 1968 the first opera telecast in Australia, Tosca, featured Marie Collier
in the title role, Donald Smith as Cavaradossi, and Tito Gobbi
as Scarpia.
On 21 January 1973 Donald was the first voice to sing in the Sydney Opera House
, when he appeared in the first test concert in the Opera Theatre, along with Elizabeth Fretwell
and members of the ABC National Training Orchestra
, conducted by Robert Miller.
While Italian opera (and particularly where sung in English) was his natural metier, he also performed many concerts and song recitals. Together with his son Robin Donald Smith, who performed professionally under the name Robin Donald
, they presented in 1974 a series of "Smith & Son" concerts throughout Australia.
Donald Smith's last performance for the Australian Opera was in Verdi's I masnadieri
with Joan Sutherland
. This was the only occasion that these two singers sang a complete opera together.. He became ill and retired in 1981. He later became a singing teacher in Brisbane at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music
.
He made many individual recordings both in England with the Sadler's Wells Opera Company and in Australia with EMI records. He also appears in compilation videos and CDs such as Celebration – 40 Years of Opera, and Australian Singers of Renown in Opera, Operetta & Song, compiled by John Cargher
.
Donald Smith died in a Brisbane nursing home, with members of his extended family by his side, on 1 December 1998. He was survived by his wife Thelma Joyce (who died on 26 November 2009) and their three children.
His eldest grandson is former English Premier League player Jason Cundy
, son of his youngest daughter Carol-Beth Cundy.
. He was the first resident member of the Australian Opera to be awarded this honour.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
. His voice had a bright Italianate quality, which could match in size, carrying power and tonal allure the voices of most sopranos and mezzos. He attracted a fiercely loyal public following, and many Australians who had no prior experience of opera became opera lovers through Smith's work. His performances were regularly sold out.
Biography
Donald Sydney Smith was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 27 July 1920. His early schooling and education was spasmodic and at around 10 years old, while in 4th grade primary school, he was removed from school by his parents to help work on his family's milk run and dairy property. At around the age of 12 years old he was sentenced to the Westbrook Farm Home for boys (outside Toowoomba), where he spent some seven months for allegedly stealing and 'joy riding' in a friend's father's motor vehicle. He was subsequently released into the care of one of his older sisters. During this period in his early teenage years he continued to educate himself while working as a sugar cane cutter on properties in and around the Bundaberg area. At the age of 18 years old he met Thelma Joyce Lovett, whom he married in Bundaberg in 1942 and remained with until his death. After his wedding he worked in the capacity as a sugar chemist for the Bundaberg Fairymead Sugar Mill. In 1942 their son RobinRobin Donald
Robin Donald Smith , who appeared professionally as Robin Donald, is an Australian operatic tenor. He performed leading roles in opera houses in Britain, Europe and Australia....
was born, and his two daughters Deanna and Beth were born in 1943 and 1945 respectively.
On 4 October 1941, during World War II, Smith enlisted in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
. He served at Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. It was in New Guinea while serving as private and a machine gunner that he was wounded in the right hand by friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
after being mistaken for the enemy, while setting up range markers for the guns. He was first transported to an American based hospital ship for treatment of his injuries. The Australian Army at that time were unaware of where he was being treated. Therefore it was during this time that his wife Joyce (who was on her way to hospital to deliver their first daughter Deanna) was advised by the Army that he was "missing in action, believed to be deceased". He was discharged on 28 October 1943 as a private from the 47th Battalion
47th Battalion (Australia)
The 47th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1916 for service during the First World War and took part in the fighting in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium before being disbanded in early 1918 to provide reinforcements for...
. During recuperation for his injuries and after being being repatriated to Australia, his family were then advised that he was still alive.
Smith began his career singing on the local radio station 4BU Bundaberg, singing mainly country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
songs. His first singing teacher was a lady named Kate Gratehead. It was she who helped him refine his musical ability and vocal technique for his natural tenor voice. After the birth of their third child, Smith and his wife left Bundaberg and relocated firstly to Toowoomba and then to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. Here Smith became acquainted with the well known band leader J.J. Kelly. Under Kelly's direction, Smith performed the tenor roles in his first operas, including the lead tenor role in Sir Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...
's Merrie England
Merrie England (opera)
Merrie England is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood. The patriotic story concerns love and rivalries at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who is portrayed as jealous of the affection of Sir Walter Raleigh for Bessie Throckmorton. Its sunny depiction of...
in Brisbane in 1944. He also performed the lead tenor role in Michael William Balfe
Michael William Balfe
Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best-remembered for his opera The Bohemian Girl.After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to compose. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed 38 operas, almost 250 songs and other works...
's The Bohemian Girl
The Bohemian Girl
The Bohemian Girl is an opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Cervantes tale, La Gitanilla.The opera was first produced in London at the Drury Lane Theatre on November 27, 1843...
and the role of 'Don Caesar de Bazen' in William Vincent Wallace
William Vincent Wallace
William Vincent Wallace was an Irish composer and musician.-Early life:Wallace was born at Colbeck Street, Waterford, Ireland. Both parents were Irish, his father, of County Mayo, was a regimental bandmaster....
's Maritana
Maritana
Maritana is a grand opera in three acts composed by William Vincent Wallace, with a libretto by Edward Fitzball . The opera is based on the play Don César de Bazan by Adolphe d'Ennery and Philippe François Pinel Dumanoir , which was also the source material for Jules Massenet's opéra comique Don...
.
In 1948 he joined the Brisbane Opera Society, and sang roles such as Don José (Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
), the title role in Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
, the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
) and Canio (Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
). Canio was a role with which he became particularly associated. In 1952 he began two years of study at London's National School of Opera
London Opera Centre
The London Opera Centre, a school for the training of opera singers and other opera professionals, existed in England between 1963 and 1977. It was located in the former Troxy Cinema on Commercial Road in London's East End Borough of Stepney . The Troxy, with 3,520 seats, opened in 1933 and was...
, after winning the 'Mobil Quest' singing competition. He returned to Australia, and sang with an Italian touring company in 1955, alongside singers such as Gabriella Tucci
Gabriella Tucci
Gabriella Tucci is an Italian operatic soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Rome, Italy, Tucci trained at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Leonardo Filoni, whom she later married. She made her debut at Spoleto, as Leonora in La forza del destino, opposite...
and Ken Neate
Kenneth Neate
Kenneth Neate was a renowned Australian operatic and concert tenor, opera producer and singing teacher. He was a regular artist in Wagnerian opera at Bayreuth, and he was noted as a dramatic tenor in German, French, and Italian repertoire in opera houses in England, France, Italy, Austria,...
. In 1958 he appeared with the then Elizabeth Trust Opera Company
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
, singing Count Almaviva (The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
) and Tamino (The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
). In 1960 he sang Pinkerton opposite Dame Joan Hammond
Joan Hammond
Dame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, DBE, CMG was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and champion golfer.- Early life :...
's Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
.
He made his Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
debut in England in 1962, where he performed many Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
operas such as Attila
Attila (opera)
Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the play Attila, König der Hunnen by Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner. Initially, Verdi had enlisted Francesco Maria Piave to prepare the libretto, after Verdi's own scenario...
. He also sang at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, where he made his debut as Calaf in Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
opposite the English soprano Amy Shuard
Amy Shuard
Amy Shuard CBE was an English operatic soprano renowned in such dramatic roles as Elektra, Turandot and Brünnhilde. She created both title roles in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová and Jenůfa in their respective British premieres. She has been described as "the best English dramatic soprano since Eva...
. He made his career in the UK for six years, returning in 1967 to sing with the Australian Opera
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
in roles such as Canio, Manrico (Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
), Bob Boles (Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
), the Duke of Mantua, Dick Johnson (The Girl of the Golden West
La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910...
), Cavaradossi (Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
), Radames (Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
), and the King (A Masked Ball
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
). He also appeared in German roles, such as Florestan in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
.
In 1968 the first opera telecast in Australia, Tosca, featured Marie Collier
Marie Collier
Marie Collier was an Australian operatic soprano.Marie Collier was born in Ballarat, Victoria. She first came to prominence in 1952 singing the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana for the National Theatre Opera company in Melbourne...
in the title role, Donald Smith as Cavaradossi, and Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.-Biography:Tito Gobbi was born in Bassano del Grappa and studied law at the University of Padua before he trained as a singer. Giulio Crimi, a well-known Italian tenor of a previous generation, was Gobbi's teacher in Rome...
as Scarpia.
On 21 January 1973 Donald was the first voice to sing in the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, when he appeared in the first test concert in the Opera Theatre, along with Elizabeth Fretwell
Elizabeth Fretwell
Elizabeth Fretwell OBE was an Australian soprano. She was the prima donna at London's Sadler's Wells Opera through much of the 1950s and 1960s.- Early life and career :...
and members of the ABC National Training Orchestra
ABC Sinfonia
The ABC Sinfonia was an Australian training orchestra established as the National Training Orchestra by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1967. In 1980, the Orchestra was renamed ABC Sinfonia. Based in Sydney, the 40-piece orchestra was entered by scholarship, and was intended to train...
, conducted by Robert Miller.
While Italian opera (and particularly where sung in English) was his natural metier, he also performed many concerts and song recitals. Together with his son Robin Donald Smith, who performed professionally under the name Robin Donald
Robin Donald
Robin Donald Smith , who appeared professionally as Robin Donald, is an Australian operatic tenor. He performed leading roles in opera houses in Britain, Europe and Australia....
, they presented in 1974 a series of "Smith & Son" concerts throughout Australia.
Donald Smith's last performance for the Australian Opera was in Verdi's I masnadieri
I masnadieri
I masnadieri is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on Die Räuber by Friedrich von Schiller....
with Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
. This was the only occasion that these two singers sang a complete opera together.. He became ill and retired in 1981. He later became a singing teacher in Brisbane at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music
Queensland Conservatorium of Music
Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University was originally an independent tertiary-level institution, called the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.-History:...
.
He made many individual recordings both in England with the Sadler's Wells Opera Company and in Australia with EMI records. He also appears in compilation videos and CDs such as Celebration – 40 Years of Opera, and Australian Singers of Renown in Opera, Operetta & Song, compiled by John Cargher
John Cargher
Pinchas Cargher AM, known professionally as John Cargher , was a British-born Australian music and ballet journalist and radio broadcaster....
.
Donald Smith died in a Brisbane nursing home, with members of his extended family by his side, on 1 December 1998. He was survived by his wife Thelma Joyce (who died on 26 November 2009) and their three children.
His eldest grandson is former English Premier League player Jason Cundy
Jason Cundy
Jason Cundy is a former English footballer.-Football career:During his career, Cundy played for Chelsea , Tottenham Hotspur , Crystal Palace , Bristol City , Ipswich Town and...
, son of his youngest daughter Carol-Beth Cundy.
Honours
In 1973 Donald Smith was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. He was the first resident member of the Australian Opera to be awarded this honour.
Sources
- Sydney Morning Herald, obituary, 5 December 1998
- The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia