Allen, Sir Thomas (Boaz)
Allen, Sir Thomas (Boaz)
Allen, Sir Thomas (Boaz), notable English baritone; b. Seaham, Sept. 10, 1944. He studied organ and voice at the Royal Coll. of Music in London (1964–68). After singing in the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus (1968–69), he made his operatic debut as Rossini’s Figaro at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff in 1969, where he sang until 1972. In 1971 he made his first appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Donald in Billy Budd, and quickly established himself there as a leading member of the company. He also sang at the Glyndebourne (from 1973) and Aldeburgh (from 1974) festivals. On Nov. 5, 1981, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Papageno. In 1986 he sang the title role in Busoni’s Doktor Faust in its first stage mounting in England with the English National Opera in London. He made his debut at Milan’s La Scala as Don Giovanni in 1987. In 1990 he sang for the first time at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Rossini’s Figaro. In 1993 he sang Count Almaviva at the Salzburg Festival. From 1994 he was the Prince Consort prof. at the Royal Coll. of Music. In 1997 he sang in Beckmesser at Covent Garden, and in 1999 he sang in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music in Houston. On Jan. 26, 2000, he made his N.Y. recital debut at the 92nd Street Y. In 1989 Allen was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1999 he was knighted.
Writings
Foreign Parts: A Singer’s Journal (North Pom-fret, 1994).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire