Norman Stanley Bailey CBE (23 March 1933 – 15 September 2021) was a British operatic bass-baritone who appeared in leading roles in major opera venues.
One of his signature roles was Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which he performed at La Scala in Milan in 1968 and at the Bayreuth Festival the following year.
Later that year he was called upon at the last minute to play the part at the Royal Opera House in London when Hubert Hoffman had to pull out with a sore throat.
[4] He finished his studies with Josef Witt, Adolf Vogel and Julius Patzak in Vienna, with F. Carvino in Düsseldorf and Clemens Kaiser-Breme [de] in Essen.
[3] In 1967, he first performed at La Scala in Milan, in the title role of Dallapiccola's Job, followed by Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg the following year.
[10] He appeared as Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss[11] in a 1981 Welsh National Opera production, and as the Father in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel at the ENO.
In 1985, he participated in the world premiere of Alexander Goehr's Die Wiedertäufer (Behold the Sun) at the Duisburg house of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
He made his debut with the Glyndebourne Opera in Alban Berg's Lulu in 1996 at age 65,[3][13] and celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday by singing the role of Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Eliza R. Snow Performing Arts Center in Rexburg, Idaho.