Edgar Evans (9 June 191222 February 2007) was a Welsh opera singer. His most famous role was Hermann in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Evans was born in Cwrtnewydd, Cardiganshire, Wales. In all, he sang some 45 roles – most of them major ones – at Covent Garden from 1946 – when, as one of its three principal tenors, he became a founder member of the Covent Garden Opera Company – to his retirement in 1975. In that time, he sang more roles and more performances at the Opera House than any other artist. Those roles included Steva in the first British stage performance of Jenůfa, Zinovy in the British premiere of Katerina Ismailova, The Interpreter and A Celestial Messenger in the premiere of Vaughan Williams' The Pilgrim's Progress, Andres in the first Covent Garden Wozzeck and Captain Davidson in Richard Rodney Bennett's Victory. In addition, he was Dmitri in the company's first Boris Godunov, Hermann in the first Covent Garden Queen of Spades under Kleiber, Gustavus in the first Masked Ball performed at Covent Garden since the War, Aegisthus in the first post-War Elektra, Hellenus in The Trojans conducted by Kubelík, Narraboth in the Brook-Dalí Salome, and Froh in the first post-War Covent Garden Ring. Early life The son of a farmer and the youngest – by eight years – of 13 children, Evans heard the voice of Enrico Caruso over the radio when he was a young boy. From then on his only ambition was to be a singer, despite his father's ambitions for him to become a banker or an architect. Completely untaught, Evans practised both 'preaching' in the declamatory 'Welsh chapel' style and singing in a barn-cum-boilerhouse on the farm. He received no encouragement as a boy – being always told that he sang too loudly. At 11 he entered the local Eisteddfod as a singer unsuccessfully, but by the age of 17 he had improved enough to steal the show at an end of term concert at his secondary school in Cei Newydd. He went on to win various prizes at local Eisteddfodau as a baritone. First steps in singing career The opportunity to take up singing professionally came when Evans (by now an articled pupil to the County Architect) was heard singing 'Loch Lomond' by a talent scout in a pub called The Irish House, Piccadilly, while