On July 25, 2024, Baritone Benjamin Luxon died at the age of 87.

Considered one of Great Britain’s major international singers, Luxon was born on March 24, 1937 in Redruth, Cornwall and first studied with Walther Gruner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and later went on to win the third prize in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1961, which helped establish him as an international artist.

He began his career as a member of the English Opera Group, the company formed by Benjamin Britten for the performance of his own and other contemporary operas.

Luxon became one of Britten’s key singers and the composer even wrote the role of “Owen Wyngrave” (his television opera) specifically for Luxon’s voice.

Luxon would become an important singer internationally performing at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, Tanglewood, the Teatro alla Scala, Paris Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Metropolitan Opera where he sang two performances of “Eugene Onegin.”

Other roles that the baritone became known for were the title roles of “Wozzeck,” “Falstaff,” “Don Giovanni,” and Papageno in “Die Zauberflöte.”

Critics praised his local power  he was a “sensitive interpreter, wholly in sympathy with the music, his diction irreproachable.”

He went on to work with some of the most important conductors and orchestras and made over 100 recordings.

For his service to British Music, he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1986.

His career had a setback in 1990 when had a sudden hearing loss but he was able to return to the stage in 1992. In the mid-90s, he returned amidst hearing fluctuation and deterioration.

However, he continued to work as a narrator for the symphony orchestra, directed operas, and also held important master classes.