Heddle Nash (1894-1961) was certainly the finest English lyric tenor of his generation as can be witnessed though his recordings. As a Mozartian he was certainly more elegant and stylistically accomplished than his Italian contemporaries and on a par with any German or Austrian tenor of his time. He was also a vocalist of considerable vocal charm and fluency. Nash first studied in London and later Milan where he made his début before appearing in Genoa, Bologna and Turin. His London appearance was as the Duke in Rigoletto for Lilian Baylis’s Old Vic/Sadler’s Wells company. His Covent Garden years covered the years 1928-39 and 1947-48 where his Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni was considered the finest since John McCormack. He sang at Glyndebourne between 1934 and 1938, his rôles there including Ferrando, Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, and Pedrillo in Die Entführung. Nash sang with the touring Carl Rosa company during the Second World War and his final stage appearances were with the New Opera Company in 1957-58. He was also a much admired oratorio singer.
