Charles Santley
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Sir Charles Santley (February 28, 1834 - September 22, 1922), English vocalist, was the son of an organist of Liverpool. His sister, Kate Santley, was a famous singer and comedienne, as well as a London theatre manager.
He was given a thorough musical education, and having determined to adopt the career of a singer, he went in 1855 to Milan and studied under Gaetano Nava. He had a fine baritone voice, and while in Italy he began singing small parts in opera, making his debut in Pavia. In 1857 he returned to London (where he continued his studies under Manuel Garcia), and on November 16 made his first appearance in the part of Adam in The Creation at St Martin's Hall.
In 1858, after appearing in January in The Creation, he sang the title-part in Elijah in March, both at Exeter Hall. In 1859 he made his debut at Covent Garden as Hoel in Meyerbeer's opera Dinorah, and in 1862 he appeared in Italian opera in Il Trovatore. He was engaged by Mapleson for Her Majesty's in 1862. He was the first English performer of the role of Valentin in Gounod's Faust in 1863, and in 1864 Gounod composed the aria Even bravest heart(Dio Possente or Avant de quitter ces lieux) expressly for him.
He appeared also in Cherubini's Medea and Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. His regular connection with the English operatic stage only ceased in 1870, when he sang as Vanderdecken in The Flying Dutchman. This was one of his most successful roles.
In 1875 he joined the Company of Carl Rosa, and took part in the Drury Lane Season and later at the Princes Theatre and on tour in the provinces, singing in works of Michael Balfe and Cherubini, and as Zampa (Herold) and Fra Diavolo (Auber), and he delivered Vanderdecken for the same company at the Lyceum Theatre in 1876. Meanwhile, in 1861 he sang Elijah at the Birmingham Festival, and in 1862 was engaged for the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace. At the musical festivals and on the concert stage his success was immense. In such songs as "To Anthea," "Simon the Cellarer" or "Maid of Athens," he was unapproachable, and his oratorio singing carried on the finest traditions of his art.
His Figaro (Mozart) was greatly admired. In addition to a haunting tone, Santley possessed a wonderfully flexible voice (developed no doubt through his oratorio work). His technique and musicianship made him a master in the singing of Handel or Mozart, where a fresh and accurate management of rhythm and roulade created an effect of spontaneity, vigour and ideal phrasing, while his ensemble singing (for instance as Figaro) was distinguished by superb clarity. His compass was from the bass E flat to the baritone top G, and was exceptionally even throughout.
He was knighted (the first singer to receive this honour) in 1907, and made his Covent Garden farewell in 1911 as Tom Tug in Charles Dibdin's The Waterman. In 1858 Santley married Gertrude Kemble, and their daughter, Edith Santley, had a great success as a concert singer. The Australian baritone Peter Dawson was a student of Santley's.
[edit] Recordings
Charles Santley made a few recordings, mostly of ballads. His earlier series was made for the Gramophone Company (His Master's Voice) in 1903, and although the voice is old and lacking its former brilliant resonance it preserves his remarkably vivid and lively rendering of 'Non piu andrai' (Figaro). Several years later he cut a group of ballad titles for the Columbia label. Hatton's 'To Anthea' and 'Simon the Cellarer' are characteristic of Santley's earlier ballad repertoire.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Corrected Edition, Oxford 1974).
- C. Santley, Reminiscences of my Life (1909).
- M. Scott, The Record of Singing to 1914 (Duckworth 1977).
