Mclntyre, Sir Donald (Conroy)
Mclntyre, Sir Donald (Conroy)
Mclntyre, Sir Donald (Conroy), esteemed New Zealand bass-baritone; b. Auckland, Oct. 22, 1934. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London. He made his operatic debut as Zaccaria in Nabucco with the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff (1959), and then was a member of the Sadler’s Wells Opera in London (1960–67). In 1967 he made his debut as Pizzaro at Covent Garden in London; that same year he made his first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival as Telramund, returning there annually until 1981; sang Wotan there during the centenary Ring production in 1976. On Feb. 15, 1975, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Wotan. He made guest appearances with many of the leading opera houses of the world. He appeared as Prospero in the British premiere of Berio’s Un re in ascolto in London and as Wotan in Die Walküre in Amsterdam in 1989. In 1990 he sang Hans Sachs in Wellington. He portrayed Gurnemanz in Antwerp in 1996 and King Marke at the Los Angeles Opera in 1997. In 1998 he sang Count Waldner in Turandot at the San Francisco Opera. In 1977 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and in 1985 a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1992 he was knighted. His other roles include Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Attila, Klingsor, Amfortas, the Dutchman, Go-laud, and Escamillo.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire