John Orlando Parry

Parry, the only son of Welsh musician John Parry (known as Bardd Alaw), was born in London and, at an early age, was taught by his father to sing and to play the harp and the piano. He also studied the harp under Robert Bochsa. As Master Parry, in May 1825, he appeared as a performer on the harp. As a baritone vocalist he made his début on 7 May 1830 at the Hanover Square Rooms, in London, on the occasion of Franz Cramer's concert, when he sang Handel's Arm, arm, ye brave! with much success.

Humorous manual written and illustrated by Parry

Parry was also an illustrator and artist.[1]

After receiving lessons from Sir George Smart in sacred and classical music, he was in demand as a singer at the Antient and Philharmonic concerts, and also at musical festivals in town and country. For him Sigismund Neukomm composed Napoleon's Midnight Review, and several other songs, but his best efforts were in simple ballads. In 1833 he visited Italy, and received instruction from Luigi Lablache at Naples, where he resided some time. At Posilippo he gave a concert in a theatre belonging to impresario Domenico Barbaja, the second part of which comprised a burlesque on Othello, Lablache taking the part of Brabantio; Calvarola, the Liston of Naples, playing the Moor; and Parry as Desdemona, dressed à la Madame Vestris, and singing Cherry Ripe. He also appeared before the king and queen of the Two Sicilies, and gave imitations of Lablache, Rubini, and Malibran in a mock Italian trio.

Portrait of Parry, c. 1840

He returned to England in 1834, after perfecting his command of the Italian language. On 28 May 1835 he performed in a state room at St James's Palace for King William IV, Queen Adelaide and other members of the royal family. He accompanied himself on the harp in Lord Burghersh's air "Bendermeer's Stream" and sang a duet with Adelaide Kemble.[2] He married, on 30 June 1835, Anne Combe, the daughter of Henry Combe, a surgeon. They had a daughter, Maria. In July 1836 he gave his first benefit concert at the Hanover Square Rooms, when Malibran sang for him, and he joined her in Mazzinghi's duet When a little farm we keep. Persuaded to try the stage, he came out at the St. James's Theatre, just then built by his father's old friend, John Braham, on 29 September 1836, in a burletta called The Sham Prince, written and composed by his father. He was well received, and on 6 December in the same year he appeared in John Poole's Delicate Attentions, and in a burletta, The Village Coquettes, written by Charles Dickens, with music by John Hullah. Subsequently he was for a brief season at the Olympic Theatre. By 1839, Parry was becoming known as a comic singer, and in 1840 he composed a comic opera called Wanted, a Governess.[1]

In 1842 he forsook the stage for the concert-room, and was singing, with Anna Thillon and Josef Staudigl, in pieces written expressly for him by Albert Smith.[3] Parry afterwards accompanied Camillo Sivori, Franz Liszt, Sigismund Thalberg, and others in a concert tour through the United Kingdom, and his powers as a pianist and his originality as a buffo vocalist were widely recognised. In 1849 Albert Smith wrote an entertainment entitled Notes Vocal and Instrumental, which Parry produced on 25 June 1850 at the Store Street Music Hall, Bedford Square, London, and illustrated with large water-colour paintings executed by himself. In it he indulged in monologue, sang in different voices, played the piano, and made rapid changes of his dress. The entertainment proved more acceptable to the audience than any single-handed performance since the time of Charles Mathews the elder. He was afterwards seen at Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate Street, at Willis's Rooms, King Street, St. James's, and in the provinces. On 17 August 1852 he brought out a new solo entertainment at Store Street, called The Portfolio for Children of all Ages,[4] which he continued with much success until August 1853.[5] The strain of this engagement, however, proved excessive, and for a time he suffered from mental derangement. When somewhat recovered, he became organist at St. Jude's Church, Southsea, and gave lessons in singing.[1]

On 4 June 1860, he joined Thomas German Reed and his wife at the Gallery of Illustration, Regent Street, London. Here he performed for nearly nine years, presenting a series of droll impersonations and musical monologues that inspired other comedians, including George Grossmith. He built comic sketches with musical illustrations around his own comic songs. He wrote these entertainments, composed his own music, and played his own accompaniments.

On 15 July 1869 a complimentary benefit was given him by a distinguished party of amateurs at the Lyceum Theatre, and on 7 February 1877 he took a farewell benefit at the Gaiety Theatre, which realised £1,300. His later years were embittered by the loss in 1877, through the defalcations of his solicitor, of the greater part of his forty years' savings.

He died at the residence of his daughter, Pembroke Lodge, East Molesey, Surrey, at the age of 69, and was buried in East Molesey cemetery. A miniature portrait of Parry by Maclise is in the possession of Horace N. Pym, Esq.