Charles Santley

A cabinet card portrait of the English baritone Charles Santley (1834-1922).

Born in Liverpool on 28 February 1824, Santley studied in Milan and made his début at Pavia in 1857 as Dr Grenvil in Verdi’s La Traviata, then returned to England for further study with the younger Manuel Garcia. In 1859 he made his English début as Hoël (Le pardon de Ploërmel) with the Pyne-Harrison company at Covent Garden. He remained with the company until 1863, creating the Rhineberg in Wallace’s Lurline (1860), Clifford in Balfe’s The Puritan’s Daughter (1861), Don Sallustio in Glover’s Ruy Blas (1861), Danny Mann in Benedict’s The Lily of Killarney (1862) and Fabio in Balfe’s The Armourer of Nantes (1863).

In 1862 Santley sang Count di Luna (Il Trovatore) with the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden, and then joined Mapleson’s company at Her Majesty’s Theatre, appearing as Count Almaviva and Nevers. In 1863 he sang Valentin with huge success in the first performance of Faust in England. He remained with Mapleson’s company until 1870, singing the Dutchman (in Italian) in the first production of a Wagner opera in England. In 1875 he joined the newly formed Carl Rosa company, singing Mozart’s Figaro on the opening night of its first London season. He retired from the stage in 1877 and was knighted in 1907. Although his voice was not naturally beautiful, he sang with great expression and was a particularly dramatic actor. He wrote three books on singing (1892, 1900 and 1908) and Reminiscences of my Life (London, 1909). He died in London 22 September 1922.

Photographed by the London Stereoscopic Company.