From the archives
Andrew Mcgregor finds much to enjoy in this set of essential recordings by the late Welsh tenor Robert Tear
Is it really already a decade since we lost the singer Robert Tear? The Welshman, who epitomised a certain kind of British tenor, to the eventual discomfort of Benjamin Britten who invited Tear to understudy his muse Peter Pears and wrote the tenor parts in two of his Church Parables for him. He and Pears were an astonishing match in Britten’s music, but Tear’s irreverence eventually invoked Britten’s wrath, and led the tenor to explore other avenues, creating the role of Dov in Tippett’s The Knot Garden in 1970 at the Royal Opera House instead of premiering Britten’s Owen Wingrave.
Robert Tear: the Argo Recitals (Decca 485 1544; 14 CDS) brings us Tear’s arias by Handel, Arne and Boyce from that seminal year; the tightly focused sound, with a heroic timbre, impeccable diction, powerfully propelled but capable of real sweetness. You can detect Tear’s background at King’s
College, Cambridge and St Paul’s Cathedral in the accuracy and discipline of his singing, and musical intelligence in his choices of repertoire. Just a year later he recorded Janáˇcek’s Diary of
One Who Disappeared (in English), one of the many things here reissued for the first time on CD, and the emotional immediacy and plangent tone suit it well. Russians too, a recital each of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, with pianist Philip Ledger somewhat overwhelmed by Tear’s expressive potency. Their recital of Copland’s Old American Songs is a fine showcase for Tear’s vocal wit, and his feeling for folk simplicity – also highlighted in a handful of Britten’s Folk Song arrangements.
Tear and Ledger fall short of Pears and Britten in Schumann’s Liederkreis, but the Parry recital is exemplary and Britten’s Nocturne and Tippett’s Songs for Dov are essential.
It’s just a snapshot of Tear’s discography, and you need to explore more widely to flesh out the musician and the voice. But this timely set makes me feel privileged to have met Bob Tear, interviewed him, and listened to him live. Fond memories.
Andrew Mcgregor is the presenter of
Radio 3’s Record Review, broadcast each Saturday morning from 9am until 11.45am