Denis Dowling
Denis Dowling (24 June 1910 – 23 September 1996) was a New Zealand-born operatic baritone who made his career in London with Sadler's Wells Opera and its successor, the English National Opera (ENO). Life and career. Dowling was born in Ranfurly, New Zealand, and brought up on his father's sheep farm, where he worked on leaving school. As a youth he played in a local brass band, and from 1929 he studied singing with a local voice teacher. After success in competitions, and concert and broadcast appearances in New Zealand he won a scholarship to the  Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. He was spotted by Lilian Baylis, proprietor of Sadler's Wells Opera and made his debut with that company while still a student, playing Faninal in "Der Rosenkavalier" in 1939. At the RCM Dowling was the first singer to be awarded the Tagore Gold Medal for the best all-round student of the year, hitherto won exclusively by instrumental players. His career had to be put on hold while he served in the Second World War as an officer in the Royal Artillery. In 1943 he married Phyllis Clutterbuck. After demobilisation, in 1947  Dowling joined the new English Opera Group, singing Junius in Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia" and Sid in the same composer's "Albert Herring" at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden and on a European tour. In 1948 he returned to Sadler's Wells, playing Silvio in "Pagliacci". His career with Sadler's Wells lasted until his retirement, at the end of an American tour, in 1984, when he was seventy-four. Among his many roles were Escamillo and Dancairo in "Carmen", Dr Falke in "Die Fledermaus", Angelotti in "Tosca", Sharpless in "Madam Butterfly", Baron Douphol and Germont in "La Traviata", and  Marcello in "La Boheme". He became noted for his versatility, but was particularly well known for his performances in comic roles. In the words of "The Times": In an obituary in "The Independent, Elizabeth Forbes wrote: From 1974 until his retirement, Dowling added the position of vocal consultant to the ENO to his singing roles. He died in London on 23 September 1996 at the age of eighty-six.