Philip Langridge

Philip Langridge (Hawkhurst, Kent, 16 December 1939) is an English tenor whose career made him one of the most versatile British singers of his time. Before turning to singing, he studied the violin at the Royal Academy of Music from 1958 and worked professionally as a violinist for a brief period, until 1964.

In 1962 he began taking singing lessons with Bruce Boyce, and later continued with Celia Bizony. His concert repertoire ranges from Monteverdi and the oratorios of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to premieres of works by composers such as Bennett, Goehr, Holliger, Lutyens and Milner. However, his international reputation rests chiefly on his work as a singer-actor, with an extraordinarily wide range that embraces contemporary operas, those of the post-war period and earlier eras. In Britain, his interpretations of Grimes, Vere, Quint and, above all, Aschenbach, in works by Britten, stand out.

His voice, more distinctive than beautiful and with limitations of power and brilliance in the upper register, has served him equally well in the dramatic roles of Janáček as in those of Rameau, Handel, Mozart, Berlioz, Mussorgsky, Schoenberg and Stravinsky. That same musical intelligence and precise diction have also enriched his work in the lied and English song. His recordings include Peter Grimes, The Rake's Progress and Osud. He was appointed CBE in 1994 and is married to the mezzo-soprano Ann Murray.