Thomas, John Charles
Thomas, John Charles
Thomas, John Charles, American baritone; b. Meyersdale, Pa., Sept. 6, 1891; d. Apple Valley, Calif., Dec. 13, 1960. He studied at the Peabody Cons, of Music in Baltimore. From 1913 he sang in musical comedy in N.Y. He made his operatic debut as Amonasro in Washington, D.C. (March 3, 1924). In 1925 he made his European operatic debut as King Herod in Massenet’s Hérodiade at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where he sang until 1928; made his Covent Garden debut in London as Valentin in Faust (June 28, 1928). He then sang opera in Philadelphia (1928), San Francisco (1930, 1943), and Chicago (1930-32; 1934-36; 1939-42); made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y as the elder Germont on Feb. 2, 1934, and remained on the company’s roster until 1943. Throughout these years, he toured widely in the U.S. as a concert artist; also appeared regularly on the “Bell Telephone Hour” radio program. Among his other roles were Rossini’s Figaro, Scarpia, and Strauss’s Jochanaan.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire