Oreste Kirkop (Chircop) (26 July 1923 - 10 May 1998) was a Maltese singer.
Biography
Kirkop was born in Ħamrun (Malta).[1] He was the sixth child among the ten siblings of Jean Chircop and Fortunata Panzavecchia.[2] He started to realise his singing capabilities while singing in the shelters during wartime. Afterwards he took lessons from Maltese tenor Nicolo Baldachino. Oreste made his operatic debut on 25 February 1945 as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Radio City Opera House in Ħamrun (Malta).[3] In 1948, he met Maltese baritone Joseph Satariano who encouraged him to start an opera career in the UK. Between 1949 and 1950 he continued singing opera with visiting Italian companies and appeared in concert with Tito Gobbi and Maria Caniglia.[4]
In 1950 he moved to the United Kingdom and sang principal tenor roles with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, later with Sadler's Wells (1952) singing Turiddu, Mario Cavaradossi, and Rodolfo in Luisa Miller. He appeared on BBC TV as Canio in Pagliacci.
In 1958 he returned to Covent Garden. He married his wife Therese in Malta on 15 August 1963 and they had two daughters, Anita and Susan. He retired completely from singing in 1960 at the age of 37. His retirement was mainly due to heart problems after being told by doctors that he might die on stage if he continued his singing career after the age of 40. Oreste Kirkop died aged 74 on 10 May 1998.