​"A company which refuses to rest on its laurels, is eager to experiment and keen to attract a new audience to the world of opera." Lee Trewhela - The West Briton
DUCHY OPERA
  • Home
  • ABOUT
    • About Us
    • How to join us
    • Friends of Duchy Opera (FODO)
    • Testimonials
    • Membership & Subscriptions Policy >
      • Complaints Policy
      • Environmental Policy
      • Health and Safety Policy
      • Privacy Policy
      • Safeguarding Policy
  • Future
  • Past
    • Performances 2006 - Present Day
    • List of Past Productions 1977 - Present Day
    • Education
    • Gallery
  • BLOG
  • Contact
  • Support Us

Benjamin Luxon CBE - an outstanding man.

2/8/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
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. 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    Amphitheatre
    Aria
    Auditions
    Ben Luxon
    Christmas
    Concerts
    Conductor
    Costumes
    Creative
    Dearest Papa
    Die Fledermaus
    Dulcamara
    Education
    Elixir Of Love
    FODO
    John Hobbs
    John Nettles
    John Treleaven
    Kings Singers
    Lanhydrock
    La Traviata
    Macbeth
    Masterclass
    Medical Maelstrom
    Merry Wives Of Windsor
    Minack
    MOGF
    Mozart
    Newsletter
    One Fine Day
    Paul Drayton
    Photography
    Richard Jackson
    Roles
    Rough Guide
    Sterts
    Students
    The Wreckers
    Trebah
    Troubadours
    Tutti
    Twitter
    Verdi
    Vesselina Kasarova
    Voices

    RSS Feed

Duchy logo
Copyright © 2025 Duchy Opera Trust Ltd. All rights reserved.

Duchy Opera Trust Ltd is a Registered Charity No 285212 and a company limited by guarantee in England No 1639019
​