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Gathering the Jewels features over 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.

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Home » Arts and Culture » Theatre and performing arts » Performers

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  • The K-Nuts concert party comprised women workers who were employed at Llandudno railway station during the First World War.
The 'K-Nuts' concert party of women war workers, Llandudno, 1917
Shirley Bassey by Dorrien
  • This account book for the Covent Garden Theatre in London mentions the first manager of the theatre, John Rich, the tragic actor Spranger Barry (1719-1777) and the dancer Giovanni Gallini (1728-1805). The volume was acquired by George Powell (1842-1882) who was brought up on the family estate of Nanteos, near Aberystwyth. John Powell, one of the proprietors of the first Covent Garden Theatre, was an ancestor of George Powell.
Covent Garden Theatre Account Book, 1757-1758, front cover [image 1 of 10]
  • This elaborate work thanks Gwenllian Davies, a leading vocalist, for her civic and wartime work during the First World War on behalf of the citizens of Barry. Gwenllian Davies was a national winner at the Royal National Eisteddfod, Colwyn Bay, in 1910. The inscription reads as follows: 'Miss Gwenllian Davies. Winner, Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales, Colwyn Bay, 1910. On behalf of the residents of Barry, we the undersigned, note with pleasure your continued success in the musical world, and would particularly refer to the expressions of appreciation emanating from the many leading Vocal and Instrumental Artistes who have from time to time visited the Town of the able manner in which you have provided their accompaniment, and of the testimony of many eminent Professors of Music who have been greatly impressed with your ability. They also desire to incorporate in this address their appreciation of the many gratuitous services rendered by you to the Sick and Wounded, and the men in training at the Buttrills Camp during the Great War of 1914-1918, often at great personal inconvenience and financial loss. That you may long be spared to instruct and entertain, is the sincere hope of the residents of the Town, who feel justly proud of your great accomplishments.'
Appreciation of the wartime work carried out by the singer Gwenllian Davies, Barry, 1921
  • Photographed by John Thomas.
Ventriloquist and his dolls, c. 1885
  • Photographed by John Thomas. James Sauvage (1849-1922) was the grandson of a Cornishman who came to Rhosllannerchrugog in the 1790s. Sauvage rose to become one of the foremost baritone soloists and tutors of his age in Britain and the United States of America. He was brought up in the rich musical traditions that were part of the Rhos Nonconformist chapels and in 1868 he left his work as a coal miner and went to the United States to join his cousin in Ohio. His life was then to be spent crossing the Atlantic with regularity. In 1869 James met Lewis William Lewis (Llew Llwyfo) and Ellen, his elder daughter, in America. He subsequently married Ellen and joined his father-in-law's touring concert party only returning to Wales in 1873. The following year he was in Aberystwyth studying with Joseph Parry and making his name as a soloist in his own right. He went to the Royal Academy of Music in 1878, changed from singing tenor to baritone and won many of the premier medals. By 1880 he was making a profitable living as a concert soloist in both oratorios and operas. In 1888 he decided to return for a short visit to the United States before deciding in 1890 to settle there permanently with his family. He soon made a name for himself in New York State as director and soloist at the Peddie Memorial Church, Newark, and was appointed Professor of Music at Vassar College in 1892. He built up an enormous reputation and lived in great style. Nine years later he returned to Wales on a visit and was received with great acclaim. From 1910 onwards he visited Wales annually, always travelling by Cunard apart for during the war years of 1915-18. The sinking of the Lusitania passenger ship by German submarines in May 1915 put him off trans-Atlantic travelling for the duration of the war. Sauvage had an immense following but his popularity and success did not change him in the least. He died in 1922 and can be regarded as one of a large number of soloists and musicians who studied at Aberystwyth University in the 1870s before going on to the Royal Academy and making a spectacular career for himself both in Wales, England and the United States. Description: Eryl Wyn Rowlands
The singer James Sauvage (1849-1922), photographed in 1877