Description

JOHN BARDSLEY (1883 – NEW YORK CITY, 6 APRIL, 1916)

 

 

 

 

John Bardsley was an English lyric tenor whose career, though lasting little more than a decade, took him from the concert halls and theatres of London to the opera stages of New York. Gifted with a bright, flexible voice and an engaging stage personality, he achieved his greatest successes in light opera and musical comedy, while also appearing in grand opera and leaving behind a small but valuable legacy of gramophone recordings.

Bardsley studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and appears to have begun his professional career in 1906. During the following years he became a familiar performer at London’s celebrated Promenade Concerts, where he appeared on numerous occasions between 1906 and 1911. These concerts introduced him to a wide audience and established his reputation as a capable young tenor equally at home in operatic excerpts, ballads, and concert repertoire.

His theatrical career developed alongside his concert work. On 12 May 1908 he appeared in the musical play Butterflies at the Apollo Theatre, London, sharing the stage with such popular artists as Ada Reeve, Louis Bradfield, and Hayden Coffin. The following year, on 27 April 1909, he created another successful appearance in A Persian Princess at the Queen’s Theatre with George Graves, Carrie Moore, and Ruth Vincent. These productions confirmed his talent for the lighter theatrical repertoire that would remain an important part of his career.

Bardsley also appeared with Thomas Beecham’s Opera Company at Covent Garden during the 1908 season. Although he possessed the training required for opera, his clear lyric voice and natural theatrical instincts made him particularly successful in comic opera and operetta, genres in which he was especially admired.

Like many promising British singers of his generation, Bardsley sought wider opportunities abroad. In August 1913 he sailed for the United States after signing a contract with the Aborn Opera Company, one of America’s leading touring opera organizations. He later joined the Century Opera Company in New York, continuing to build a successful American career.

Among his most notable engagements was his appearance in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore at the New York Hippodrome in April 1914, where his light tenor voice proved ideally suited to the comic repertoire. In addition to his theatrical performances, he became a popular entertainer at Shanley’s Restaurants, then among New York City’s most fashionable establishments, where distinguished singers frequently performed for diners.

Besides his stage career, Bardsley made a number of gramophone recordings in England. Although relatively few survive today, they provide valuable evidence of his vocal style—an elegant lyric tenor of considerable sweetness, clear diction, and refined musicianship, representative of the English singing tradition of the Edwardian era.

His American career, however, was destined to be tragically brief. In May 1916 Bardsley died of pneumonia at only thirty-two years of age. Contemporary newspapers reported a remarkably poignant ending to his life. According to The Wairarapa Daily Times (13 May 1916):

“Shortly after singing faintly, ‘Drink to me only with thine eyes,’ John Bardsley, a tenor who formerly was a member of the Covent Garden Opera Company in London and the Century Opera Company in New York, fell back on his bed and died.”

 

Career Chronology

 

1883 – Born in England.

Studied – Royal Academy of Music, London.

1906 – Began professional career; appeared at the London Promenade Concerts.

1906–1911 – Frequent appearances at the Promenade Concerts.

1908 (12 May) – Butterflies, Apollo Theatre, London.

1908 – Appeared with Thomas Beecham’s Opera Company at Covent Garden.

1909 (27 April) – A Persian Princess, Queen’s Theatre, London.

1908–1913 – Made several gramophone recordings.

August 1913 – Departed for the United States to join the Aborn Opera Company.

1913–1914 – Member of the Century Opera Company, New York.

April 1914 – Appeared in H.M.S. Pinafore at the New York Hippodrome.

1914–1916 – Performed as an entertainer at Shanley’s Restaurants in New York.

May 1916 – Died of pneumonia at the age of thirty-two.

 

TRACKLIST

 

Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) O Lola Dacapo 555 22214

Count Your Blessings (w. Kirkby) Rexophone 5163a 60256

Good-Bye (Tosti) Rexophone 5442 24170

In the garden of my heart Rondophone 1003 60244

Moira of my heart Rondophone 1076 60347

MY dear Rondophone 1003 60247

My dreams Columbia A5124 6007

Nirvana (Adams) Columbia A5131 6004

Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Vesti la giubba Dacapo 555 22212

Roses (Adams) Columbia A5124 6005

Saved By Grace (w. Kirkby) Rexophone 5163b 60257

Speak from your Heaven beloved (Chevalier) Rondophone 1026 60246

The Maid of Manaar (Coverly) Rondophone 1026 60245

The Song that reached my Heart (Jordan) Excelophone 5656 24415

The Sweetest Face Rondophone 1076 60346

Thora (Adams) Columbia A5131 6006

Two eyes of grey (McGeoch) Regal G 6260 R 131

When Other Lips (Balfe) Rexophone 5442 24169

White Wings (Winter) Excelophone 5656 24414