Kirkop was born in
Ħamrun (
Malta). He was the sixth child among the ten siblings of Jean Chircop and Fortunata Panzavecchia. 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). 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. 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 1954, Kirkop made his
Covent Garden debut as the Duke in
Rigoletto and later as Rodolfo in
La Bohème. A contract with
Paramount Pictures led to the leading role of
François Villon in the
1956 film version of
The Vagabond King. He sang opera at
Las Vegas and the
Hollywood Bowl and appeared on
NBC TV in pioneering productions of
Madame Butterfly,
La traviata and
Rigoletto. On 4 August 1956 he performed at the
Hollywood Bowl Concert in
Los Angeles with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic and the
Roger Wagner Chorale under the direction of
Carmen Dragon. 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. ==References==