Charles Farncombe (1919-2006) was a British conductor, closely associated with opera and with Sadler’s Wells. He became particularly important in British operatic performance after the Second World War.

In the Pristine catalogue he conducts Handel’s Rodelinda with Joan Sutherland, Janet Baker and Margreta Elkins, a historically notable Sadler’s Wells performance.

Farncombe’s conducting was practical, singer-conscious and grounded in theatre. In Handel, especially before the later early-music boom, such work required both stylistic instinct and stage discipline.

His page is justified by the importance of the recording and by his wider British operatic career. Farncombe helped keep opera alive as a working craft, not a museum bird under glass.