The Welsh tenor Edgar Evans was born in Cardiganshire in 1912 and studied singing in London and Milan. He was a member of the chorus of Sadler’s Wells Opera from 1937 until 1940, the year he joined the Police War Reserve in London, followed by a spell with ENSA. In 1946 he became a founder member of the new permanent company at the Royal Opera House Company at Covent Garden with whom he was a Principal Tenor for 29 years.

His rôles included many of the main French, German and Italian ones, but he is especially remembered for his gripping portrayal of Hermann in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. Retiring from Covent Garden in 1975, he spent what he describes as “ten very happy years” teaching at the Royal College in London. His only other commercial recording is the rôle of the Mayor in Britten’s own recording of Albert Herring.