Waltz, Gustavus
Waltz, Gustavus
Waltz, Gustav US, German bass; b. place and date unknown; d. London, c. 1759. His first recorded appearance was at the Little Haymarket Theatre in London in Lampe’s Amelia (March 13, 1732). He then sang in the pirated ed. of Handel’s Ads and Galatea there (May 17, 1732), and subsequently appeared in various London theaters. After accompanying Handel to Oxford in 1733, where he appeared in several of his works, he returned to London as a member of Handel’s company until 1736. He created the roles of Minos in Arianna in Creta (Jan. 26, 1734), Mars in 11 Parnasso in festa (April 13, 1734), the King of Scotland in Ariodante (Jan. 8, 1735), Melisso in Alcina (April 16, 1736), and Nicandro in Atalanta (May 12,1736); he also sang in various oratorio performances. He was subsequently active as a singer in light English theater pieces; however, he continued to make some concert appearances, and sang in performances of Handel’s Messiah at the Foundling Hospital (1754,1758,1759). He is mentioned in the reported acrid comment of Handel on Gluck: “He knows no more of counterpoint than my cook, Waltz/’
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire