Durward Lely

In 2007, Simon Moss revealed a newly discovered pamphlet called Mr Durward Lely, The Eminent Tenor. The 20-page booklet describes Lely's career. It was first published in three instalments in March and April 1894 in The Blairgowrie Advertiser and then issued in booklet form. Although the pamphlet does not credit an author, it is patent that it is self-written. Lely praises Gilbert as a director.

Lely died in Hillhead, Glasgow, on 29 February 1944, at the age of 91, of heart failure. The date of his death is ironic for a Gilbert and Sullivan tenor, in that 29 February, leap day, is the birthday of the tenor character, Frederic, in The Pirates of Penzance, which becomes a key plot point. In Act II of the opera, Frederic promises to claim his bride on his 21st birthday, which will not take place until 1940. Lely thus died one "birthday" after that.

After this, Lely resumed a grand opera and concert career, appearing often with Adelina Patti, performing frequently at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and touring with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, among others. He appeared widely in a musical stage adaptation, and in 1911, a film adaptation, of Rob Roy. Lely continued to perform until 1925. He outlived nearly all of the singers with whom he had performed at the Savoy Theatre.

He then pursued a concert and operatic career. He appeared with Adelina Patti on numerous occasions, and she said he was her favourite tenor. He often sang at her home, Craig-y-Nos Castle, and he accompanied her on her farewell American tour in 1893–1894. He frequently sang Don José in Carmen, including appearing opposite Zélie de Lussan at Covent Garden in 1893, and also opposite Minnie Hauk. Later, he sang the role at the Manhattan Opera House in New York. The Observer wrote of one of his performances in the role, "His acting was pathetic, impressive and natural; his elocution was polished, and he sang delightfully from beginning to end." He had numerous operatic and concert engagements in London and elsewhere between 1890 and 1893. His operatic appearances included several at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, beginning with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in Lurline as Count Rudolph. He also had roles in Mignon, The Bohemian Girl and Maritana.

In an 1891 interview, Lely stated that he most enjoyed concert work. His performances on the concert stage included Messiah, The Creation, St Paul, Damnation of Faust, Antonín Dvořák's The Spectre’s Bride, The Golden Legend, and Frederic Cowen's St John’s Eve. He also acted widely in Scottish plays with songs, including as Francis Osbaldistone in a stage adaptation of Rob Roy and Henry Bertram in the stage version of Guy Mannering. Of his portrayal in an 1894 production of Rob Roy, a reviewer in The Dundee Courier wrote: "Certainly it is not possible to imagine … a finer Francis Osbaldistone than Mr. Lely. … He sang [his songs] as only he can sing them, and he infused an amount of expression and feeling into "Auld Langsyne" which we never heard equalled. The effect he produced in the chorus of this song was a veritable tour de force, and brought down the house, eliciting an undeniable encore. In 1893, he sang in Arthur Goring Thomas's opera The Golden Web at the Lyric Theatre. He also spent some time performing with his own opera company.

Between 1890 and 1893 he had numerous operatic engagements in London, as well as regular tours of America. He was a regular in cantatas and oratorios, and he later toured with fellow ex-D'Oyly Carter Richard Temple in "Rob Roy". He performed with his own opera company, and toured with the Carl Rosa Opera Company.

Lely sometimes sang with his wife in amateur performances, for example as Lionel opposite her Nancy in Martha in Dundee in 1888. In 1892, he toured with his wife accompanying him at the piano in an entertainment called "Scottish Song and Story". They again toured with this entertainment in the US and Canada in 1895 and again in 1898, going on to Australia and New Zealand. In 1905, at the St. James's Theatre and then on tour, he starred in a stage adaptation of Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush with Henry Ainley and Lilian Braithwaite. Lely also appeared as Francis Osbaldistone in the 1911 film of Rob Roy. He became a close friend of fellow D'Oyly Carte principal Henry Lytton, even though Lytton's long tenure with the company took place mostly after Lely had left it. Lely continued to act and sing in Scottish plays with his own company until 1925.

Lely left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in November 1887 when the "Ruddigore" run ended. Work post-Carte included singing in concerts and in Grand Opera (including in "Carmen" opposite Emily Soldene).

He also played the roles of The Defendant in "Trial by Jury" and Alexis in "The Sorcerer" when they were revived in a double bill in October 1884.

When Power left the Company, Lely became its principal tenor, creating the roles of the Duke of Dunstable in "Patience" (April 1881), Tolloller in "Iolanthe" (December 1882), Cyril in "Princess Ida" (January 1884), Nanki-Poo in "The Mikado" (March 1885), and Dick Dauntless is "Ruddygore" (later "Ruddigore") (January 1887).

In November 1880 Lely joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Opera Comique, London. He replaced George Power in the leading tenor role of Frederic in the original London production of The Pirates of Penzance. At Arthur Sullivan's suggestion, he adopted the stage name Durward Lely. Of his Frederic, The Times commented, "His acting and enunciation of the words, with and without music, leave much to be desired". The Era was more impressed: "The advantage of having an experienced and competent operatic tenor to represent Frederic … is great, and Mr Durward Lely, having gained no little reputation in Italian opera, plays and sings in English with equal success. He acted with much spirit, and the graceful music allotted to the tenor was rendered very effectively".

Durward Lely was born James Durward Lyall and studied singing in Milan. He made his stage debut, under the Italianate name of 'Signor Leli', in 1878 as Don Jose in Carmen with the Mapleson Opera Company. After two years on tour with Mapleson, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a tenor choristor singing for Gilbert and Sullivan, later replacing George Power as Frederic in "The Pirates of Penzance". It was at Arthur Sullivan's suggestion that he adopted the professional (a later, personal) name of Durward Lely.

Lely studied singing in Italy in the early 1870s and beginning his career there. He returned to tour in concerts and made his British opera debut in 1879, at Her Majesty's Theatre, in what would become one of his signature roles, Don José, in Carmen. After touring in opera, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1880, soon becoming their leading tenor. He began there in the role of Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and went on to create five roles in the famous series of Savoy operas, including Nanki-Poo in The Mikado. He remained with the company until 1887.

Durward Lely (2 September 1852 – 29 February 1944) was a Scottish opera singer and actor. Although he had an extensive opera, concert and acting career, he is primarily remembered as the creator of five tenor roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, including Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

James Lyall was born in Glover Street, Arbroath, in the County of Angus, Scotland, the second son of Elizabeth, née Dorward (1820–1896), and William Lyall (c. 1822–1898). His father was a stonemason and estate manager who became factor of Blackcraig Castle near Blairgowrie. Lely studied singing as a boy. The family moved to Blairgowrie, Perthshire, where, at the age of 14, Lely began working for a firm of solicitors. At the same time, he sang in church and with a local choral society and studied singing with Henry Nagel in Dundee. His father’s employer, Patrick Allan-Fraser, impressed by Lely's voice, sent him for training in Milan. He studied with Francesco Lamperti and others for five years, after which he adopted the middle name Durward and sang for three years in Italy under the stage name Durvardo Leli. In December 1874, he sang in concert in Rome, at the Teatro Argentina. He spent a season in Sardinia in 1876–77, where he sang tenor roles in such operas as La sonnambula, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'elisir d'amore, La favorite, Don Pasquale, Maria di Rohan, Faust and Il trovatore.