Michael Rayner

Michael Rayner (6 December 1932 – 13 July 2015) was an English baritone born in Etwall, Derbyshire, and raised in Derby, where he sang as a choirboy at St Luke's Church and later St Werburgh's Church. Before pursuing a professional singing career, he apprenticed with Rolls-Royce and subsequently joined his family's motor car business, rising to the position of sales manager. During those years he participated in amateur operatic productions in Corby, Derby, and elsewhere, including work with Derby Opera Company and Opera da Camera. In 1955 he married Sylvia Groome, and together they had four children.

At age 34, in 1967, Rayner committed to formal vocal training and enrolled at the Birmingham School of Music. Two years later he joined the Wales National Choir and Welsh National Opera's Opera for All, spending two seasons touring in roles that included Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Sharpless in Madam Butterfly, Frank in Die Fledermaus, and the title role in Eugene Onegin.

In 1971 Rayner joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a principal baritone, immediately taking on a substantial roster of Gilbert and Sullivan roles: Mr. Cox in Cox and Box, Counsel for the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore, Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance, Strephon in Iolanthe, and Giuseppe in The Gondoliers. His portrayal of Corcoran drew critical praise for its air of authority and vocal size. Over the following years he expanded his repertoire steadily, adding the Sergeant of Police in Pirates and Pish-Tush in The Mikado in 1972, and the small role of Guron in Princess Ida in 1974. For the company's 1975 Centennial Season at the Savoy Theatre he recreated Mr. Goldbury in Utopia Limited and sang Dr. Tannhäuser in a single concert performance of The Grand Duke. He later stepped up from Guron to Arac in Ida, exchanged the role of Cox for Sergeant Bouncer in Cox and Box, and added the Lieutenant of the Tower in The Yeomen of the Guard. Rayner also participated in the company's tours of North America and Italy and performed in its Silver Jubilee Royal Command Performance of H.M.S. Pinafore at Windsor Castle.

His recorded legacy with D'Oyly Carte spans multiple studio albums: Pish-Tush in 1973, Strephon in 1974, Counsel in 1975, Mr. Goldbury and Dr. Tannhäuser in 1976, Giuseppe in 1977, Bouncer in 1978, and Lieutenant in 1979. He also appeared as Corcoran in the company's 1973 video production of H.M.S. Pinafore. His Broadway credits, earned during his tenure with D'Oyly Carte, include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Hot Mikado, with his Broadway appearance dating to 1976.

A heart attack in 1977 made the demands of full-time touring difficult, and Rayner left D'Oyly Carte in 1979. He subsequently worked in the Probation Service and later with social services supporting elderly clients, before taking early retirement from government service. Alongside this work he maintained an active concert career, performing in oratorio including Elijah, The Messiah, the St. John Passion, Mozart's Requiem, and masses by Bach and Haydn.

From the 1980s onward, Rayner continued performing Gilbert and Sullivan with several companies, among them G&S Unlimited, Grim's Dyke Opera Company, and The Gilbert and Sullivan Companions. The roles he took on with these organizations extended well beyond his D'Oyly Carte repertoire and included the Learned Judge and Usher in Trial by Jury, Doctor Daly in The Sorcerer, Dick Deadeye in Pinafore, Major-General Stanley in Pirates, Major Murgatroyd in Patience, Private Willis in Iolanthe, the Mikado and Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, Old Adam and Sir Roderic Murgatroyd in Ruddigore, Sergeant Meryll in Yeomen, Captain Corcoran KCB in Utopia, and the Herald in The Grand Duke. He also directed productions, coached performers, and conducted master classes on the Savoy operas.

Between 1996 and 2008, Rayner appeared in multiple productions at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton through the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company and other participating companies; excerpts from those performances were broadcast on Songs of Praise in 1997. At the 1999 Festival he and soprano Jean Hindmarsh gave the world premiere of "Reflect, my child," a song cut from H.M.S. Pinafore before its 1878 opening and reconstructed in 1998. He additionally performed an autobiographical musical show titled In the Carte, appeared on cruise ships, and worked with the comedy duo Hinge and Bracket. For many years he also sang with the Derby Cathedral Choir.

In 1984 Rayner married Joy Neal, a mezzo-soprano who performed with Derby Opera, G&S Unlimited, and Grim's Dyke Opera. The couple lived in Ilkeston in later years. Rayner died in Derby Hospital on 13 July 2015, at the age of 82, following a period of declining health and a short illness.