John Coates
I wish to thank Anton Bieber for the recordings and label scans (Lohengrin twice, Phillida flouts me and The gondoliers). I wish to thank Richard J. Venezia for the recording (Come into the garden Maud).
Coates came from a musical family, and as a child sang in a church choir under his father's direction; he
also took voice lessons early on, but worked as a accountant. When making his debut with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in
Manchester and Liverpool as a baritone (Valentin), he was still an amateur, and unsuccessful. After further studies, he became
a full-time baritone, singing operetta with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (1894/95) and then with various troupes in London
and the US.
After surgery on his vocal cords, and further study, he came back as a tenor in 1900 at the Globe Theatre in London, in light
opera. In 1901, he made his Covent Garden debut in the world premiere of Much ado about nothing by Charles Villiers
Stanford, and sang in concert in Cologne and Leipzig. He became soon one of England's most beloved concert and oratorio
singers, specializing in the works of Elgar, but also sang regularly in opera. Beyond England, he appeared a lot in Germany
(Berlin, Hannover, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Dresden, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Mainz) and also in Paris. His operatic English efforts were shared between
the Moody-Manners Company, the Beecham Company, the Carl Rosa Opera Company and the Quinlan Opera Company; with the latter, he also toured
South Africa and Australia. In spite of not being a typical heldentenor, he had his greatest operatic successes in Wagner
(Siegfried, Tristan, Parsifal, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser).
From 1916 to 1919, he served in the British army in France, then he resumed his career. He was Don José and Lohengrin
for Carl Rosa at Covent Garden in 1921, but then focused almost exclusively on concert work, for several years with young
Gerald Moore as his accompanist. On the radio, he sang into his 70-ies.
Reference 1, reference 2: Kutsch
& Riemens
The Bohemian girl (Arnheim) – Bradford, Bradford Operatic Society, January 1891 Maritana (Don José) – Bradford, Bradford Operatic Society, December 1891 Martha (Plunkett) – Bradford, Bradford Operatic Society, 1892 La fille de Madame Angot (Larivaudière) – Bradford, Bradford Operatic Society, 1892 Faust (Valentin) – Liverpool, Royal Court Theatre, 2 February 1893 Utopia Ltd. (Goldbury) – London, Savoy, 1894 Mirette (composer Messager) – 1894 Love and war An artist's model The geisha-London, 1896 The gay pretenders (Perkin Warbeck, first tenor role) – London?, Globe Theatre, 1899 or 1900 Olivette (composer Audran) Tannhäuser (Walther) – London, Covent Garden, 15 May 1901 Tristan and Isolde (Melot) – London, Covent Garden, 18 May 1901 Much ado about nothing (composer Stanford) – London, Covent Garden, 30 May 1901 Faust – London, Covent Garden, 19 June 1901 Roméo et Juliette – Köln, Stadttheater, 7 December 1901 Lohengrin – Hannover, Königliche Schauspiele, 4 February 1902 Maritana (Don Caesar) – London, Covent Garden, 28 August 1902 Carmen – London, Covent Garden, 30 August 1902 Fra Diavolo – Köln, Stadttheater, 1902/3 Martha (Lionel) – Köln, Stadttheater, 1902/3 La dame blanche – Köln, Stadttheater, 1902/3 La bohème – with Moody Manners UK Tour, 11 October 1907 Aida – with Moody Manners UK Tour, 17 January 1907 Madama Butterfly – with Moody Manners UK Tour, 3 April 1907 The wreckers (composer Ethel Smyth) – ?, 30 May 1908 Dorothy, 1908 Les contes d'Hoffmann – London, Her Majesty's, 12 May 1910 Muguette (composer Missa) – London, Her Majesty's, 25 May 1910 Tiefland – London, Covent Garden, 8 October 1910 Siegfried – Leeds, ?, 30 March 1911 Götterdämmerung – Leeds, ?, 1 April 1911 La fanciulla del West – Thomas Quinlan Opera Company UK Tour, Liverpool?, 6 October 1911 Tristan und Isolde – Manchester, ?, 3 November 1911
Reference: The Record Collector, Volume 38, No.2, April/May/June 1993. |
