It is well known that Benjamin Britten chose an American, Theodor Uppman, as his first Billy Budd.
Less well known is that he handpicked an American to sing the title role in the first US production in 1949 of the village-hall comedy, Albert Herring.
The young man who caught his eye was David Lloyd Jenkins, a Minnesota tenor at New York City Opera. Jenkins also caught the ear of Leonard Bernstein, who cast him in a best-selling recording of Handel’s Messiah. After Jenkins gave up the stage, he became director of the American Opera Center at Juilliard, a trainer of future talent.
David Lloyd Jenkins died on Friday, aged 92.
And for a time in the late 1940s and early 50s David Lloyd was the favorite tenor of Koussevitzky’s who engaged him for performances and a recording of the Beethoven 9th. David also sang in Koussevitzky performances of Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” and Liszt’s Faust Symphony. He had been discovered by Boris Goldovsky, who brought him to Tanglewoood and then made him principal tenor of his New England Opera Theater.
In the interest of clarification, David was known professionally all his life as
DAVID LLOYD
The article was correct in every way except that he dropped “Jenkins” for professional reasons, as did another Jenkins Welshman, who happened to be a fine actor……Richard Burton.
David was a dear friend and colleague of mine for over 40 years, and a true artist and teacher, teaching, hiring, and fostering careers of some outstanding singers, including Jerry Hadley, Erie Mills, Eric Halvorson, and the list goes on and on. Through his work with the Sullivan Foundation, the resulting financial grants assisted many singers at a pivotal time in their careers. He will be sorely missed by almost every American singer in the last 40 years; his contribution was that important.
We will miss him very much.
Edward Alley
Sarasota, FL
David Lloyd will, indeed, be missed. He was the Ferrando in Così fan tutte, the first opera I ever saw, on a Community Concert tour to Parkersburg, WV in about 1960. I was thirteen years old. Just 8 years later, David hired me as rehearsal accompanist for the Lake George Opera Festival, where I began honing my craft and making the professional connections that would shape my future career: conductor Edward Alley, who would recommend me to Boris Goldovsky, for whom I would conduct and tour manage several national tours…and stage director Adelaide Bishop, who would get me hired to teach at Biston University and to conduct so many productions for several regional companies. David Lloyd also hired me again in the middle 1970s for his Lake George Company to conduct Manon, Faust, Boheme, Summer and Smoke, Carmen, and others. This is the kind of experience American conductors rarely have a chance to acquire these days. I will always be grateful to David for the faith he had in me and his courage to hire someone as green as I was then.
I met David Lloyd in 1975, when I got to be a part of the La Boheme chorus at the University of Illinois. He noticed my absolute delight to be a part of the opera, and gave me the role of “clam seller”. This was a production with Jerry Hadley, Erie Mills, and Eric Halvorson. I was 15 years old, and knew this is what I wanted to do with my life (sing opera, not sell clams). He cast me as “Carmen” in 1981, and it was a marvelous experience. He always had a twinkle in his eye, and could be devilishly hilarious. He was the one who introduced me to Nancy Williams (premiered Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti), who wanted to teach me at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Years later, he and his first wife, Maria, invited me to join them for a meal in NYC. I just adored this man, and his patience, guidance, and sense of humor will be missed. I’m so glad he lived a long life, and touched so many singers.