Singer with D’Oyly Carte Company
Born: October 18, 1915;
Died: October 2, 2016
THOMAS Round, who has died aged 100, was a principal tenor with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company for many years after the war. He was acclaimed for his singing of Nanki Poo in The Mikado and Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes from The Gondoliers and was often seen in Scotland.
He brought to all the tenor roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas a charm and vivacity which the public loved. He also had a considerable career with the Sadler’s Wells Opera in north London and was cast by Sir Thomas Beecham in the belated world premiere of Delius’s opera Irmelin at Oxford in 1953. One critic wrote of his performance “Thomas Round as the hero was particularly good.”
Mr Round, pictured with one of his co-stars Fay Lenore, annually toured with the D’Oyly Carte on their spring tours of the major Howard and Wyndham theatres in Scotland – The Herald once wrote of an annual visit, “For the umpteenth time the Gilbert and Sullivan operas will take the city by storm.” Mr Round sang all the tenor roles with his customary bravado and was joined by the Edinburgh-born Anne Drummond-Grant who was the company’s principal soprano.
Thomas Round was born at Barrow-in-Furness into a keen musical family and he began to sing in St Paul’s Mission church choir. After school, he trained as a joiner but was keen to further his singing and took part in, and won, many local competitions. In 1936 he joined the police force.
Being in a reserved occupation he was exempt from military service when war broke out but he was determined to serve and after the Royal Navy rejected him he joined the RAF. He did his training in Texas and stayed in America as an instructor in the US Air Force. He continued to sing when time allowed and was offered a place at a music college in New York. He decided to turn the offer down and in 1943 returned to the UK and the RAF - his duties included flying three different types of Spitfires.
Mr Round joined the D’Oyly Carte Company in 1946 and for three years was the principal tenor. His versatility was seen when he also appeared in a spectacular ice show, Rose Marie on Ice, and spent six years with Sadler's Wells Opera. Apart from the Delius he was seen as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Tamino in Magic Flute, Jenik in The Bartered Bride and Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro.
While at Sadler’s Wells Mr Round appeared in the film The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan. He returned to the D'Oyly Carte for a short time as a guest artist in September 1954, appearing as Prince Hilarion in the rarely performed Princess Ida at the Savoy Theatre. In 1958 he was seen as Danielo in The Merry Widow at The Coliseum which was the first production filmed for television and both Mr Round and the soprano June Bronhill were widely praised.
Mr Round returned to the D’Oyly Carte and in 1962 sang in a memorable production of The Yeoman of the Guard at the City of London Festival in the moat at the Tower of London.
In 1964 he left the D’Oyly Carte for the last time but the G&S operas remained his home-ground. He joined two other G&S stalwarts to form Gilbert and Sullivan for All, an ensemble that adapted the most popular scenes from the operas. The company toured the world – including the Hollywood Bowl. He also toured Tarantara! Tarantara!, a musical about the stormy relationship between the author and composer.
Mr Round was frequently heard on radio (especially Friday Night is Music Night) and recorded all the G&S operas along with fine accounts of Victorian ballads which was chosen by Radio 3 as one of the records of the year in 1974.
He published his autobiography, A Wand'ring Minstrel, I in 2002 and was a popular figure at many Gilbert and Sullivan festivals. Mr Round was also a keen sailor.
In 1938 Mr Round married Alice. She predeceased him and he is survived by their son.
ALASDAIR STEVEN
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