| Biography | JESS WALTERS, the American baritone who has died aged 91, sang in more than 650 performances at Covent Garden; his stalwart account of a variety of roles was unfailingly musical and dramatically cogent.
Walters joined the newly formed postwar resident company at Covent Garden in 1947 and remained for 12 years. He sang in more than 50 performances a season, an astonishing record of dedication to the house. Every one of his portrayals was a considered, intelligent portrait.
He first appeared as a suitably fatherly Comte des Grieux in Manon, and followed that with a vital Escamillo in Carmen, a delightful Papageno in The Magic Flute and a vengeful Count of Luna in Il Trovatore, all in his first season with the company. In the following season he broadened his repertory to include Mozart's Count Almaviva, Amonasro in Aida, Marcello in La Boheme, and father Germont in La Traviata. In all of them he maintained firm tone, true line and excellent diction.
Performances at that time were supposedly sung in English, but foreign singers were often engaged at short notice not knowing the translations, so they sang either in Italian or German. On one occasion, while singing Amonasro in Aida, Walters managed the feat of changing language according to that being sung by his partner of the moment.
In following seasons, a big success for Walters was the title role in the first British performances of Berg's Wozzeck, a moving interpretation of the downtrodden soldier, conducted by Erich Kleiber. He also made his mark as a characterful Rigoletto and a sympathetic Sharpless. He sang Amonasro again in the Coronation Season of 1953, with Callas as Aida and Barbirolli conducting. A dim off-the-air recording confirms the strength of Walters's singing. Unfortunately he left, otherwise, too few souvenirs of his considerable art.
Jess Walters was born in Brooklyn on November 18 1908. He studied in New York and made his debut with the New Opera Company there in 1941 in the title role of Macbeth. He later sang with the New York City Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera.
In 1945 he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl and was praised as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and as Tonio in Pagliacci, but after that London became very much his home and he enjoyed the company esprit de corps at the Royal Opera House. He was a cheerful and engaging colleague.
Walters's warm, flexible baritone was deployed with an innate musicality and a good if not exceptional gift for acting. During his many seasons at Covent Garden, he never gave less than his best, but was not always recognised for his true worth. After leaving Covent Garden Walters returned to America to teach. He was back in the house four years ago for a reunion of those who had sung in the house before its temporary closure in 1997.
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