Durward Lely
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.
At the same time, he sang in church and with a local choral society and studied singing with Henry Nagel in Dundee.
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.
He made his British operatic debut the following year, under the name Signor Leli, as Don José in Bizet's Carmen opposite Selina Dolaro, with the Carl Rosa Opera Company at Her Majesty's Theatre, London.
[7] While touring subsequently in Carmen with Emily Soldene's company, Lely became engaged to a Swansea native, Alice Frances Hurndall (1860–1936), whom he married early in 1881 in Liverpool.
[5] He replaced George Power in the leading tenor role of Frederic in the original London production of The Pirates of Penzance.
[9] 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.
The first three of these were the Duke of Dunstable in Patience (1881; moving to the Savoy Theatre when the company transferred there), Earl Tolloller in Iolanthe (1882), and Cyril in Princess Ida (1884).
[16] Late in 1887, when the run of Ruddigore ended, Lely left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
[1] 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.
His operatic appearances included several at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, beginning with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in Lurline as Count Rudolph.
[1] 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.
[1] 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.
[25] In 2007, Simon Moss revealed a newly discovered pamphlet called Mr Durward Lely, The Eminent Tenor.
