It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of Benjamin Luxon, which occurred on Wednesday 25th July. We send condolences to his wife and family.
Internationally renowned baritone Ben Luxon has had a long association with Cornwall and with Duchy Opera and was appointed a life member of the company. He was born in Redruth, Cornwall and early in his career he was a member of composer Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group, singing roles in Albert Herring and The Rape of Lucretia in 1963. Eight years later, Britten composed the title role of his television opera Owen Wingrave specifically for Luxon's voice. He went on to sing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, where he became a frequent guest. He had a long association with English National Opera and has performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and in Los Angeles as well as most of the major European opera houses. He has been a recitalist with an unusually broad repertoire, ranging from early music through Lieder to contemporary song, music hall and folk music and has made more than a hundred recordings. Since experiencing problems with hearing loss he has developed a career as a narrator and poetry reader whilst continuing to direct opera and give master classes. He currently lives in the USA, but in 2012 came to Cornwall to perform in Miracle Theatre and English Touring Opera's Tin.
Whilst at the height of his international opera career he saw Duchy Opera’s first production of Carmen in 1984 and was so impressed by the high standard of the Company that he spoke to Director Chris Warner offering help and support. Being Cornish-born with family still in the area and educated at Truro School he often visited the County. In 1987 Duchy Opera was extremely privileged when he agreed to sing the role of Papageno in a touring production of The Magic Flute, which he did, to the delight of the audience, Cornish-style, at one point sitting on the edge of the stage eating a pasty! His wife, soprano Sheila Amit, shared the part of Papagena with Suzanne Manuell. He introduced the Company to Leon Lovett, a London based conductor, also at the height of his career, who then became Musical Director for a number of years. In 1989 Ben played the title role in Duchy Opera’s 2nd production of Eugene Onegin which he was also singing concurrently at La Scala, Milan, in Russian. He also took part in Country House concerts and on one memorable occasion, when the food for the Friends was being prepared at St Michael’s Mount, on the afternoon of the concert, he swam across to see how the preparations were going. Having swum back he returned an hour later looking immaculate in white tie and tails.
Another outstanding occasion was the Last Night of the Proms at Carn Brea when Ben was seen crawling on the roof of the building blocking out the light from the windows with black bin bags. He was definitely ‘hands-on’ and not in any way a divo! It was here too that, during a discussion between Ben and Chris Warner, the embryonic stages of a theatre for Cornwall were planned on the back of a menu and resulted in Ben forming part of a core group which met to discuss the future and campaign for a new City Hall (later renamed the Hall for Cornwall). In 1998 Duchy Opera staged its first production in the newly built Hall for Cornwall – Die Fledermaus, which was directed by Ben and designed by Lyn LeGrice. He also directed Carmen the following year.
Ben spent the latter part of his life in Sandifield Massachusetts, where he was heavily involved with community theatre and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; he always maintained strong links with his beloved Cornwall, and returned there with a 26-strong company from his adopted home-town to perform at the Minack Theatre in 2018.
Internationally renowned baritone Ben Luxon has had a long association with Cornwall and with Duchy Opera and was appointed a life member of the company. He was born in Redruth, Cornwall and early in his career he was a member of composer Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group, singing roles in Albert Herring and The Rape of Lucretia in 1963. Eight years later, Britten composed the title role of his television opera Owen Wingrave specifically for Luxon's voice. He went on to sing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, where he became a frequent guest. He had a long association with English National Opera and has performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and in Los Angeles as well as most of the major European opera houses. He has been a recitalist with an unusually broad repertoire, ranging from early music through Lieder to contemporary song, music hall and folk music and has made more than a hundred recordings. Since experiencing problems with hearing loss he has developed a career as a narrator and poetry reader whilst continuing to direct opera and give master classes. He currently lives in the USA, but in 2012 came to Cornwall to perform in Miracle Theatre and English Touring Opera's Tin.
Whilst at the height of his international opera career he saw Duchy Opera’s first production of Carmen in 1984 and was so impressed by the high standard of the Company that he spoke to Director Chris Warner offering help and support. Being Cornish-born with family still in the area and educated at Truro School he often visited the County. In 1987 Duchy Opera was extremely privileged when he agreed to sing the role of Papageno in a touring production of The Magic Flute, which he did, to the delight of the audience, Cornish-style, at one point sitting on the edge of the stage eating a pasty! His wife, soprano Sheila Amit, shared the part of Papagena with Suzanne Manuell. He introduced the Company to Leon Lovett, a London based conductor, also at the height of his career, who then became Musical Director for a number of years. In 1989 Ben played the title role in Duchy Opera’s 2nd production of Eugene Onegin which he was also singing concurrently at La Scala, Milan, in Russian. He also took part in Country House concerts and on one memorable occasion, when the food for the Friends was being prepared at St Michael’s Mount, on the afternoon of the concert, he swam across to see how the preparations were going. Having swum back he returned an hour later looking immaculate in white tie and tails.
Another outstanding occasion was the Last Night of the Proms at Carn Brea when Ben was seen crawling on the roof of the building blocking out the light from the windows with black bin bags. He was definitely ‘hands-on’ and not in any way a divo! It was here too that, during a discussion between Ben and Chris Warner, the embryonic stages of a theatre for Cornwall were planned on the back of a menu and resulted in Ben forming part of a core group which met to discuss the future and campaign for a new City Hall (later renamed the Hall for Cornwall). In 1998 Duchy Opera staged its first production in the newly built Hall for Cornwall – Die Fledermaus, which was directed by Ben and designed by Lyn LeGrice. He also directed Carmen the following year.
Ben spent the latter part of his life in Sandifield Massachusetts, where he was heavily involved with community theatre and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; he always maintained strong links with his beloved Cornwall, and returned there with a 26-strong company from his adopted home-town to perform at the Minack Theatre in 2018.
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