Durward Lely

Scottish opera singer and actor (1852–1944)

Durward Lely (2 September 1852 – 29 February 1944) was a Scottish opera singer and actor. Although he had an extensive opera, concert and acting career, he is primarily remembered as the creator of five tenor roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, including Nanki Poo in The Mikado, for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Lely studied singing in Italy in the early 1870s and beginning his career there. He returned to tour in concerts and made his British opera debut in 1879, at Her Majesty's Theatre, in what would become one of his signature roles, Don José, in Carmen. After touring in opera, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1880, soon becoming their leading tenor. He began there in the role of Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and went on to create five roles in the famous series of Savoy operas, including Nanki Poo in The Mikado. He remained with the company until 1887. After this, Lely resumed a grand opera and concert career, appearing often with Adelina Patti, performing frequently at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and touring with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, among others. He appeared widely in a musical stage adaptation, and in 1911, a film adaptation, of Rob Roy. Lely continued to perform until 1925. He outlived nearly all of the singers with whom he had performed at the Savoy Theatre.

James Lyall was born in Glover Street, Arbroath, in the County of Angus, Scotland, the second son of Elizabeth, née Dorward (1820–1896), and William Lyall (c. 1822–1898). His father was a stonemason and estate manager who became factor of Blackcraig Castle near Blairgowrie. Lely studied singing as a boy. The family moved to Blairgowrie, Perthshire, where, at the age of 14, Lely began working for a firm of solicitors. At the same time, he sang in church and with a local choral society and studied singing with Henry Nagel in Dundee. He studied with Francesco Lamperti and others for five years, after which he adopted the middle name Durward and sang for three years in Italy under the stage name Durvardo Leli. A review in The Athenaeum commented that he "can act as well as sing; his voice is of the tenorino class, light but agreeable". While touring subsequently in Carmen with Emily Soldene's company, Lely became engaged to a Swansea native, Alice Frances Hurndall (1860–1936), whom he married early in 1881 in Liverpool. In November 1880 Lely joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Opera Comique, London. The Era was more impressed: "The advantage of having an experienced and competent operatic tenor to represent Frederic is great, and Mr Durward Lely, having gained no little reputation in Italian opera, plays and sings in English with equal success. He acted with much spirit, and the graceful music allotted to the tenor was rendered very effectively".

Lely became D'Oyly Carte's principal tenor, creating the leading tenor parts in five Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The first three of these were the Duke of Dunstable in Patience (1881; moving to the Savoy Theatre when the company transferred there), Earl Tolloller in Iolanthe (1882), and Cyril in Princess Ida (1884). He played Alexis in The Sorcerer and the Defendant in Trial by Jury when those operas were revived in 1884. In 1885, he created the role of Nanki Poo in The Mikado, playing the character until 1887. His role in that opera is dramatised in the 1999 Mike Leigh film Topsy Turvy, where he is portrayed by Kevin McKidd. Of his Nanki Poo, a review in The Era stated, "His voice is peculiar, but its peculiarity is far from unpleasant, and its timbre is of a quality that 'carries' far without much exertion on his part". In 1887, Lely created the role of Richard Dauntless in the next Savoy opera, Ruddigore. After a few efforts, the ballet master confirmed: "Tell Mr. Gilbert you can". According to Lely, upon being so informed, "Gilbert said 'Right, I'll get Sullivan to write you one.'" Late in 1887, when the run of Ruddigore ended, Lely left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Later, he sang the role at the Manhattan Opera House in New York. He had numerous operatic and concert engagements in London and elsewhere between 1890 and 1893. His operatic appearances included several at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, beginning with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in Lurline as Count Rudolph. He also had roles in Mignon, The Bohemian Girl and Maritana. In 1893, he sang in Arthur Goring Thomas's opera The Golden Web at the Lyric Theatre. He also spent some time performing with his own opera company. Lely sometimes sang with his wife in amateur performances, for example as Lionel opposite her Nancy in Martha in Dundee in 1888. Lely also appeared as Francis Osbaldistone in the 1911 film of Rob Roy. He became a close friend of fellow D'Oyly Carte principal Henry Lytton, even though Lytton's long tenure with the company took place mostly after Lely had left it. Lely continued to act and sing in Scottish plays with his own company until 1925. Lely thus died one "birthday" after that.

In 2007, Simon Moss revealed a newly discovered pamphlet called Mr Durward Lely, The Eminent Tenor. The 20 page booklet describes Lely's career. It was first published in three instalments in March and April 1894 in The Blairgowrie Advertiser and then issued in booklet form. Although the pamphlet does not credit an author, it is patent that it is self written. Lely praises Gilbert as a director.