Murray Dickie OBE (3 April 1924 – 19 June 1995) was a Scottish tenor opera singer and director, who established his career in England, Austria and Italy during the 1950s. In addition to his extensive stage work he was a prolific recording artist. Early career 1947–1955 Born in Bishopton, Scotland, Dickie had his first vocal training in Glasgow. He studied in Vienna with S. Polmann, and afterwards he studied in London with Dino Borgioli, and in Milan with Guido Farinelli. He at first worked for the BBC as effects boy and went on to become a production assistant. His debut was at the Cambridge Theatre in London in January 1947 as part of the New London Opera Company, as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, a role he afterwards repeated for them on several occasions. He joined the new resident company at Covent Garden when it was first formed after the War, from 1948 to 1952. His debut there was as Tamino. An early triumph was as David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, a role with which he became identified. In 1952 he was invited to undertake this role at La Scala by Wilhelm Furtwängler, and won approval. He also sang the role in Berlin, Munich, Vienna and elsewhere. He made debuts in 1950 in Barcelona and in 1951 in Rome, and at the Vienna State Opera, where he was immediately engaged as a permanent member of the company. In 1949 he created the role of Curé in the Arthur Bliss opera The Olympians at Covent Garden. In the Glyndebourne Festival of 1950, Dickie appeared as Don Basilio, Pedrillo and as Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos, and went to the Edinburgh Festival with the company later in the same year. Thereafter he sang regularly with the Glyndebourne company and at Edinburgh. In October 1951 he appeared as Florestein in Sir Thomas Beecham's revival of The Bohemian Girl: he sang David at Covent Garden under Beecham (parts of which were recorded live) and that year also appeared in Der Rosenkavalier and again as Don Basilio. As his career in Vienna got under way in 1952 he repeated the roles of David and Pedrillo, and also performed Jacquino, with great success. He took part in the 1952 Paris Festival of Twentieth Century Music, and sang as a guest at Munich (1952 and 1953) with the Bavarian State Opera. He performed David again