John Beard

Who was John Beard?

John Beard was an English tenor of the 18th century. He is best remembered for creating an extensive number of roles in the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel.

His début came in Handel's 1734 revival of Il pastor fido, which was a great success. He continued to sing for Handel, creating roles in ten of his operas and performing in every one of Handel's English-language oratorios, odes, and music dramas, with the sole exception of The Choice of Hercules. He also performed for Thomas Arne, and sang at the Chapel Royal. His marriage, during 1739, to Lady Henrietta Herbert, only daughter of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave caused much scandal: Lord Egmont commented that "there is no prudence below the girdle". Lady Herbert died in 1753 and in 1759 he married again, this time to Charlotte Rich, whose father was the proprietor of the opera house in Covent Garden. After he died in 1761 Beard succeeded to the role until 1767, when deafness forced him to retire, selling Covent Garden's ownership for £60,000. He died at Hampton.

Handel created several heroic leading roles for Beard, a revolution in the heyday of the castrato voice.