Walter Widdop BBC Radio Opera Tenor Old Hand Signed Autograph

PFAS72a  A very rare opportunity to secure this vintage 5.5" x 3" hand signed souvenir of Walter Widdop famous British Opera Tenor from an antique autograph book where his signature rests perfectly accompanying his picture in very good condition and this has great character.

Walter Widdop (19 April 1892 6 September 1949) was a British operatic tenor who is best remembered for his Wagnerian performances. His repertoire also encompassed works by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Handel and Bach. In 1938, Widdop was one of the four tenor soloists chosen to perform Ralph Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music, which had been written to celebrate Sir Henry Wood's silver jubilee as a conductor. He toured Australia in 1935, but never appeared in the United States. During World War Two, he toured South Africa, Canada and the Middle East for ENSA. He resumed his stage and concert career after the war and in 1949 performed the title role in Wagner's Parsifal, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He sang less in his later years, but he appeared at The Proms at the Albert Hall on 5 September 1949, performing "Lohengrin's Farewell". The next day, he died suddenly in Hampstead.