Opera Scotland

Delme Bryn-Jones Suggest updates

Born Brynamman, Carmarthen, 29 March 1935.

Died, Towy Valley, 25 May 2001.

Welsh baritone.

Delme Bryn-Jones had a successful career singing major roles especially by Verdi and Puccini, at Covent Garden and with Welsh National Opera, reaching his peak around 1970.

He trained under Redvers Llewellyn in London at the Guildhall then, after a period touring with Opera for All, at the Vienna Academy. His first London appearance was with the New Opera Company in 1959, and he made his Glyndebourne debut as Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress.

Bryn-Jones first sang at Covent Garden in 1963 as de Brétigny in Manon. Later roles with the Royal Opera included Ned Keene, Ford, Paolo Albiani, Sharpless, Amonasro, Germont and Enrico Ashton.

His extensive repertoire of roles with Welsh National included Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, Iago, Marcello, and Zurga in The Pearl Fishers. He first appeared with Scottish Opera at the 1972 Edinburgh Festival as Choroebus in The Trojans, returning for works by Gluck, Mozart, Donizetti, Puccini and Britten. For the BBC he sang Sherasmin in a concert performance of Oberon.

Outside Britain, he appeared at San Francisco from 1965 and in 1970 he sang Gérard in Andrea Chénier at Fort Worth. He sang at the Vienna State Opera from 1969.

Recordings

Bryn-Jones appears not to have made many recordings. However he can be heard (and seen) in Britten's Billy Budd. The BBC filmed a studio performance under Charles Mackerras in 1966 which has been available on DVD. Two years later, most of the same singers made the famous studio recording under Britten's direction. This important document is likely to remain available on CD. Delme Bryn-Jones sings the Bosun in both casts.

Sources: Opera; programmes.