John Gurney

John R. Gurney (June 13, 1902 — August 6, 1997) was an American bass-baritone who had an active career as an opera, concert, vaudeville, and musical theatre performer from the 1920s through the 1940s. He was a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera from 1936 through 1945 where he performed a total of 331 times. On the international stage he performed in operas at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. He is best remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of Walter Damrosch's The Man Without a Country (1937, Colonel Morgan) and Douglas Moore's The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939, Jabez Stone). He recorded the role of Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville which was released by RCA Camden in 1957. Gurney's son is racecar driver Dan Gurney. Education and performance career Born in Jamestown, New York, Gurney was the son of F. W. Gurney; the founder and industrialist of the Gurney Elevator Company. He graduated from Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music in 1924 and then earned an M.A. from the Harvard Business School before pursuing music studies in Paris with Jean Mauran in the 1920s. At Oberlin he performed in the Oberlin College Quartet, and at Harvard University he was a member of the Harvard Glee Club (HGC). He was mentored by the HGC's director, Archibald Thompson Davison, who encouraged him to pursue a career in opera. Gurney first performed in the United States with the touring American Opera Company in productions of Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Gounod's Faust in 1928. In 1930 he starred in the musical revue Aladdin and Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore at the Roxy Theatre. He made his Broadway debut as a member of the ensemble in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931. That same year he became a member of the National Music League. In 1932 he toured in vaudeville in concerts with pianist Mike Bernard, and also toured the United States in the Roxy Theatre's "Roxy Gang". Gurney made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York City on May 13, 1936, as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto with Carlo Morelli in the title role and Gennaro Papi conducting. At the Met he portrayed the roles of Pietro and Giotto in the United States premiere of Richard Hageman's Caponsacchi on February 4, 1937; and in 1937 he created the role of Colonel Morgan in the world premiere of Damrosch's The Man Without a Country.