Norman Allin

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Norman Allin, born Ashton-under-Lyne, 19 Nov 1884, was a British bass singer of the early and mid twentieth century, and later a noted teacher.

His operatic debut was as Hebrew in Samson et Dalila on 15 October 1916. With the Beecham Opera Company he appeared in Aida and Samson and Delilah

He created the role of Sir John Falstaff in Holst’s At the Boar’s Head.

In the famous 1930s Glyndebourne recording of Le Nozze di Figaro, Allin was Bartolo to Roy Henderson’s Count and Heddle Nash’s Basilio. All three appeared (and were shortly afterwards recorded) in the original line-up for Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music on 5 October 1938. Allin’s line goes down to low D; the words set for his solo are ‘The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus.’

The Vaughan Williams Serenade was recorded immediately after the concert premiere. Other recordings featuring Allin included Gounod’s Jésus de Nazareth recorded in 1932 with the BBC Chorus and ensemble conducted by Stanford Robinson; pieces from Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Partenope and Messiah; Gounod’s Faust; Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Wagner’s Die Walküre; and a Richard Strauss Lied.

During the Second World War he was a member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, which gave London seasons in which Allin appeared with Joan Hammond, Gwen Catley, Heddle Nash, Dennis Noble, Parry Jones and Tudor Davies.

Among Allin’s pupils were Jean Allister, Pamela Bowden, Richard Lewis, Norman Lumsden and Ian Wallace (who followed his teacher into the role of Bartolo at Glyndebourne.)

Allin’s voice was of a depth and resonance now rare in British basses, the preferred style of voice now being lighter.

He died on 27 October 1973.