Ward, David
Ward, David
Ward, David, esteemed Scottish bass; b. Dumbarton, July 3, 1922; d. Dunedin, New Zealand, July 16, 1983. He was a student of Clive Carey at the Royal Coll. of Music in London and of Hans Hotter in Munich. In 1952 he joined the chorus of the Sadler’s Wells Opera in London, where he made his operatic debut as the Old Bard in Boughton’s The immortal Hour in 1953. He continued to sing there until 1958. In 1960 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden as Pogner, and returned there as Arkel and Rocco. He also created the role of Morosus in the first British staging of Strauss’ Die Schweigsame Frau there in 1961. In 1960 he appeared as Titurel at the Bayreuth Festival, where he sang again in 1961 and 1962. In 1964 he sang Wotan at Covent Garden and in 1967 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. On Jan. 3, 1964, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Sarastro, where he remained on the roster until 1966; he was again on its roster from 1973 to 1975 and from 1978 to 1980. Ward also pursued a highly distinguished concert career. In 1972 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Among his other roles were Hunding, Fasolt, King Marke, Philip II, and Boris Godunov.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire