Edmund Burke

Burke, Edmund

Edmund (Arbuckle) Burke. Bass, b Toronto 12 July 1876, d Flintridge, near Pasadena, Cal, 19 Feb 1970. After attending McGill University he studied voice with Alberto Visetti in London and Edmond Duvernoy in Paris. His debut, at Montpellier in 1905, was followed by operatic appearances 1906-7 in Algiers, 1907-9 at The Hague, and 1910-11, 1919-20 at Covent Garden; his principal roles were Méphistophélès in Faust, Nilakantha in Lakmé, Athanaël in Thaïs, Scarpia in Tosca, and Rodolfo in La Sonnambula. He toured Australia 1911-12 with the Melba-Williamson Grand Opera Company. His Metropolitan Opera career, 1922-5, was curtailed by the effects of a chest wound, suffered while serving in World War I. His later years were spent in private business. The possessor of a rich dark bass, which extended well into the baritone range, he made two rare records for HMV in 1913.