Willard White

After training in the United States and beginning his career there, Jamaican bass baritone Willard White moved to the United Kingdom, rapidly assuming a leading position among the singers of his time. His burly, well-knit voice -- powerful and commanding -- has been heard in an extraordinary range of roles for both bass and bass baritone. The leading Porgy of his time (having recorded the role twice and having been at the center of the Glyndebourne Festival's landmark production of Gershwin's opera), White adroitly avoided being so closely identified with the role that manager...