Lawrence Folley

Lawrence Folley, singer: born Benoni, South Africa 6 December 1928; twice married (three daughters); died Greenock, Renfrewshire 14 January 2007.

Lawrence Folley was a South African baritone, trained in London, who sang with Sadler's Wells Opera (now English National Opera) for a few years. His voice at that time was a light, lyric baritone, but, when he returned to South Africa in his late thirties, it began to grow stronger and developed into a true Verdi baritone, capable of singing roles such as Nabucco, Rigoletto, and Don Carlo in La forza del destino.

Opera singing, however, was not a full-time occupation in South Africa during the years Folley was active in the theatre so, a fine actor, tall and with an engaging stage presence, he appeared in operettas and musicals as well.

Lawrence Folley was born in Benoni, South Africa, in 1928. He sang as an amateur before coming to London in 1953. After studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at Morley College, he won a scholarship to the London Opera School. Joining Sadler's Wells during the 1969/61 season, he sang smallish roles for a while: the Public Prosecutor in Giordano's Andrea Chenier; Baron Duphol (his first Verdi role) in La traviata; Manz, the father of Sali, in A Village Romeo and Juliet, which opened in Bradford before coming to London; Zuniga in Carmen and in 1962 the Third Knight in the British premiere of Pizzetti's Murder in the Cathedral.

Later he was given more interesting roles: Valentin in Gounod's Faust; Ramiro in Ravel's L'Heure espagnole and Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades. He also sang some major roles on tour, including the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, Leander in Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges and Escamillo in Carmen.

His last appearance at Sadler's Wells was as Agamemnon in Offenbach's La Belle Hélène in spring 1967, the year he returned to South Africa. The best of the performances he had given in London were, in my opinion, Valentin and Ramiro, the latter in particular, when he not only made a fine, upstanding muleteer, but managed to convey the twinkle in the composer's eye.

Opera in South Africa was performed in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria. In Johannesburg during the 1970s Folley sang not only Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and the title role of Don Giovanni but also the much heavier role of Don Carlo in Verdi's La forza del destino, which became a speciality.

In 1981 he sang John the Baptist in Richard Strauss's Salome opposite Leonie Rysanek in the title role. This, though his first major part in German opera, except for Peter, the Father in Hansel and Gretel, was a great success. The same year, during the opening season of the Pretoria State Theatre, he sang Iago in Verdi's Otello with Carlo Cossuta as the Moor - a triumph for both singers.

Folley sang Rigoletto at Johannesburg in 1982, taking over the part at short notice; vocally his performance was splendid, but he had some difficulty in accommodating his over-six-foot frame to that of a hunchback. In Pretoria the following year he sang two more Verdi roles that appeared particularly suitable for his voice, Macbeth, whom he made unusually sympathetic, and Renato in the Boston version of Un ballo in maschera.

In 1984 he was a magnificently evil Scarpia to Rysanek's Tosca, and also sang the Count di Luna in Il trovatore and Giorgio Germont in La traviata. The following year he sang Captain Balstrode in Britten's Peter Grimes, a role outside his usual repertory.

Folley sang many other roles, including Marcello in La bohème, the Consul Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and Michele in Il tabarro, all by Puccini, as well as Verdi's Nabucco, Simon Boccanegra, Rodrigo in Don Carlos (another favourite character) and Amonasro in Aida. Among the operettas and musicals in which he appeared were Kismet, Kiss me Kate, South Pacific, Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow.

In 1986 he celebrated his 30th year as a singer with a superb Don Quixote in The Man of La Mancha, while the following year he gave an equally fine performance of Verdi's Falstaff; in both these roles he blended comedy and pathos quite perfectly. He retired from the stage in 1993.

Elizabeth Forbes