LA TRAVIATA – VERDI
Presented on May 19, 23 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin & Jun 2, 6 at the Savoy Theatre Limerick as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
May Devitt – Violetta
James Johnston – Alfredo
Robert Irwin – Giorgio
Marjorie Barry – Flora
C Byrom – Gastone
N J Lewis – Baron
Ben Ennis – Marchese
Sam Mooney / Thomas Peacock[Jun 2, 6] – Dr Grenvil
Carmel McAsey – Annina
Capt J M Doyle – Conductor
John Lynskey – Producer
IL TROVATORE – VERDI
Presented on May 20, 24 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin & Jun 3, 7 at the Savoy Theatre Limerick as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
John Torney – Manrico
Moira Griffith – Leonora
John Lynskey – Di Luna
Patricia Black – Azucena
Sam Mooney / N J Lewis[Jun 3, 7] – Ferrando
Eileen Waldron – Inez
Capt J M Doyle – Conductor
John Lynskey – Producer
LA BOHÈME – PUCCINI
Presented on May 21, 24m at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin & Jun 4, 7m at the Savoy Theatre Limerick as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
May Devitt – Mimi
John Torney – Rodolfo
Eily Murnaghan – Musetta
John Lynskey – Marcello
N J Lewis – Colline
Sam Mooney / Robert Irwin[Jun 4, 7m] – Schaunard
Stephen Black – Benoit
Capt J M Doyle – Conductor
John Lynskey – Producer
FAUST – GOUNOD
Presented on May 22, 25 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin & Jun 5 at the Savoy Theatre Limerick as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
James Johnston – Faust
Helen Paxton – Marguerite
John Lynskey – Méphistophélès
Robert Irwin – Valentin
Patricia Black – Siébel
Cathleen O’Byrne – Martha
Thomas Peacock – Wagner
Capt J M Doyle – Conductor
John Lynskey – Producer
“OPERAS FOR LIMERICK – The Dublin Grand Opera Society will appear at the Savoy Cinema, Limerick, next week, when they will present “La Traviata,” “Il Trovatore,” “Faust” and “La Boheme.” The cast will include May Devitt, Robert Irwin, James Johnston, John Torney, Patricia Black, Helen Paxton, Eily Murnaghan and Moira Griffiths. There will be a “chorus of 8O.” (Irish Press, Saturday, May 31, 1941; Page: 5)
“GRAND OPERA – GREAT TREAT FOR LIMERICK – Ireland’s youngest operatic society, the Dublin Operatic Society [sic.], who made their momentous debut two weeks ago, make their appearance at the Savoy Cinema, Limerick, on Monday next, when they will present their brilliant company – of stars who were nationally acclaimed In Dublin. All the greatest and best known Irish singers have been recruited by the Society and several of the artists taking part are internationally famous. Some of the guest artists include May Devitt, Helen Paxton, Moira Griffith, Eily Murnaghan, Patricia Black, John Torney, James Johnston, John Lynskey and Robert Irwin. There is in addition a full chorus of eighty artistes. Some of the world’s best known operatic works will be presented” (Limerick Leader, Saturday, May 31, 1941; Page: 10)
It wasn’t going to be easy for the society to launch itself successfully. It lacked permanent rehearsal rooms, costumes and funds. And with most of the chorus members working a six-day week the rehearsals could only take place at night. Furthermore, the Radio Eireann Orchestra was not available for opera, being committed to live studio broadcasts and evening concerts, so the DGOS orchestra was usually made up of freelance musicians and members of the Irish Army Band. It wasn’t a satisfactory arrangement as some of these musicians were attached to theatres and were unavailable for week-night rehearsals..
‘During these early months it was hard work and it was confidence in the future of the society that kept us going,’ Capt. O’Kelly was to say. The society quickly ran into problems. Raynes of London provided the costumes, but the first set for “La Traviata” went down in a cargo steamer sunk in the Irish Sea five weeks before the opening of the season, and a second set of costumes arrived in Dublin just in time for the first performance.
Maybe the fact that its name was not unlike that of the Dublin Operatic Society or because the chorus and guest artists were, it seemed, no different from those who sang with the DOS, the announcement of the DGOS’s first season that May in the Gaiety Theatre did not arouse immediate excitement or grip the public’s imagination. Was it, after all, a mistake to call it the Dublin Grand Opera Society? Only time would tell. Nonetheless, the theatre was filled to capacity on Monday, May 19 for the opening performance of “La Traviata”. True, this opera was a great favourite with Dubliners but it also seemed by now that opera buffs suspected that something new and exciting was happening that might have positive long-term results.
On the following evening the Evening Mail stated: Although the Dublin Grand Opera Society is new, the leading players are all well-known to Dublin audiences and the production as a whole was well up to the standard of any reading of the opera given here in recent years. The staging throughout was bright, full of colour, and a particularly commendable feature was the clear diction of both principals and chorus. That splendid artist May Devitt was Violetta. Her interpretation of the part was intensely dramatic, especially in the final scene which was played with a degree of realism rarely aimed at. James Johnston sang with power and spirit and his acting has considerably improved. The scenes with the elder Germont (Robert Irwin) were genuinely touching in their simple pathos.’ The majority of the other reviews were equally favourable. ‘The newly-formed Dublin Grand Opera Society made a most auspicious and encouraging start, when it presented “La Traviata” to a large audience at the Gaiety Theatre,’ commented the Irish Times. The critic attributed most of the success to May Devitt’s performance as Violetta for she not alone sang the role in brilliant fashion but acted with an understanding and wealth of passion that brought the character to real life. ‘The Dublin soprano has rarely been in better form, her voice control especially being outstanding. Her only fault was that in the excess of emotions she was inclined, notably in the final act, to hold up the rhythm.’
James Johnston sang Alfredo but it was a performance that he afterwards liked to forget. Originally he had been engaged to sing the title role in “Faust” but when he arrived at the railway station he was told by Capt. O’Kelly that he would be singing Alfredo as well. The tenor protested and argued that he could not possibly learn the role of Alfredo in a few weeks. ‘You will, Jimmy,’ was O’Kelly’s blunt reply. Subsequently the tenor spent a week in a Greystones hotel being taught the part by Julia Gray. That first night in the Gaiety was an ordeal for him nonetheless and he was to say later, ‘In the first act I had to stand on a chair for the big duet with Violetta and as I wore tights, I could see my knees shake and I hoped that nobody else noticed me. I was really frightened, but I got through the performance despite the fact that by the last act I was nearly hoarse.’
Johnston was blessed with a witty turn of phrase, and had already endeared himself to the society members. A butcher in his native Belfast, he had come to opera somewhat late but he was a decided asset to the Dublin Grand Opera Society. His singing of “Faust” that season won great praise from the critics and roused the audience. Unfortunately the Marguerite, young Waterford soprano Helen Paxton, was too inexperienced for the part and upset the balance of the production, though John Lynskey was an impressive Mephistopheles.
La Boheme, a perennial favourite with audiences, packed the theatre. Directed by John Lynskey, it was notable for the outstanding portrayal of Mimi by May Devitt. ‘The soprano scored yet another triumph, both vocally and dramatically,’ stated one morning newspaper critic. ‘Those simple Little mannerisms introduced with perfect precision: that glorious voice that could at times soar over the most forte orchestral passages and yet return again to the physical appearance of the woman racked by mental pain were all features of a very fine characterisation.
If James Johnston had been nervous singing Alfredo, the same could be said of Moira Griffith as she prepared to sing the taxing role of Leonora in “Il Trovatore”. Although she sang Eily O’Connor in November of 1940 opposite John Lynskey’s Danny Mann in “The Lily of Kilarney” for the Dublin Operatic Society, she still felt short of stage experience. And it was no help to her that John Torney, from Belfast, was also new to the part of Manrico in “Trovatore”. ‘John probably believed that I had sung Leonora before and I thought the same about his Manrico. how we both got through the performance I’ll never know.’
No-one seemed to notice their inexperience or unconvincing acting. As was the custom with critics at the time, the musical and vocal content took precedence over everything else, though Harold White, the doyen of Irish newspaper critics in the thirties and forties, sometimes was critical of design and staging. Dublin-born, his parents hailed from Devon and as a boy he had a beautiful voice. He went on to study singing with Arthur Barraclough and joined the Leinster School of Music as vocal professor, doing also advanced harmony and orchestration. An able songwriter, he wrote a hundred songs in all – the best known of which was “Macushla”, a concert favourite with John Mccormack. Of his three operas, “Shaun the Post” enjoyed some popularity and Shaun was Limerick-born tenor Joseph O’Mara’s last operatic creation for the stage. In White’s own opinion, it was an electrifying performance, with the tenor bringing to the role more romance and dramatic significance than he himself had thought possible.’
It was important to Capt. O’Kelly and his fellow officers in the society that Harold White pass favourable judgment on that first season. They respected him as a critic and musician and were relieved that he had found the week’s operas more than creditable and of a reasonable standard.’Everyone read Harold White in the Irish Independent,’ recalled Moira Griffith. ‘He could be hard on singers but for the most part he was very fair. I think, though, his pen was feared. I was lucky in this respect as he seemed to like my singing voice.’
The production of “Il Trovatore” had impressed him and, like his colleagues, he felt that Patricia Black’s performance as the vengeful gypsy woman Azucena was outstanding and emotionally powerful. The conductor was Capt. Doyle and the orchestra was led by Miss Terry O’Connor.
Despite their off-stage commitments, people such as Capt. O’Kelly, Bertie Timlin and Michael Dinnigan found time to sing in the chorus, To Maura Mooney, who remembers that first historic season vividly, it was ‘a smashing week of opera. ‘
‘I knew after the splendid reception we got on the first night for “La Traviata” we had got off on the right foot. There was this buzz in the Gaiety you could feel it, and we all gave of our best in the chorus. Bill O’Kelly came up to my husband Gerald and me afterwards and said, “Keep it up and we’ll get there.” I can say I never enjoyed myself more, not that it was easy work and we staged four big operas in seven days.’
The fact that two operatic companies were now operating in the capital had not gone unnoticed either by the public or the press; indeed it provoked the Irish Times to comment in an editorial: ‘Although we may go short of tea and petrol in the city, we shall not, it seems, go short of song. The people of Dublin who in time of peace patronise all the touring companies who come to our shores, in the absence of these companies have formed their own musical societies. Up to a short time ago Dublin was without a grand opera company and amateur performances of light opera were few and far between. In Ireland unfortunately whenever anybody forms one society, either somebody else forms another of precisely the same type, or else the original society had divided itself into several opposing camps before it has time to accomplish anything.
‘This failing it appears is as common among singers as it is among politicians, and the result is that Dublin at the present moment is suffering from a glut of opera and musical comedy. For example, the musical season in the city began when the Dublin Operatic Society presented a grand opera season at the Capitol Cinema Theatre. The choice of theatre itself showed a surprising change in the order of things, and a certain proof that the people of Dublin are beginning to forsake the cinema for the theatre once more. Next, the Rathmines & Rathgar Society presented a week’s season of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas at the Gaiety Theatre. In both cases the theatres were well filled every night. This week the Old Belvedere Society is performing Franz Lehar’s “Count of Luxemboug”, a musical comedy of the type which has not been seen in the capital for some time; while next week, hot upon its heels, as it were, comes “The Belle of New York”, another musical comedy of more or less the same kind. After that, to round off the whole proceedings, the Dublin Grand Opera Society is presenting a season of opera, including at least two of the works performed recently by the DOS and “starring” several of the same guest artists.’
While the leader writer believed it was most reassuring to find Dublin become so music-conscious as to form separate societies, he deemed it at the same time a great pity that at least some of them should not be amalgamated so as to obtain the best possible combination of musicians and singers. Under the present circumstances it seemed that talent would be shared among the same companies.
Undeniably, this was the paper’s criticism of the ‘split’ that led to the formation of the DGOS as well as the expressed hope that the two would join forces. This of course was impossible as George Sleator was understandably angry at the action of the breakaway group and felt he could go it alone with the support of some loyal guest artists and new chorus members. Louis Elliman’s action in banishing him to the Olympia Theatre did not go down well with George’s friends.
Surprisingly, there was no response to the paper’s pungent comments which clearly suggested that there was scarcely room for two grand opera societies drawing more or less on the same pool of guest artists. It was in another way questioning the logic of the establishment of the DGOS and if it was needed in view of the Dublin Operatic Society’s artistic policy that provided much the same operas for the public. It was an opportunity for George Sleator to reply but he evidently didn’t want to be drawn into a public debate.
Capt. O’Kelly, for his part, was at this time more concerned about his forthcoming opera season at the Savoy Theatre in Limerick. Following the success of the Gaiety Theatre season, the society was invited south and O’Kelly was quick to accept the offer. ‘I was happy to carry the flag of grand opera to the provinces.’ His vision proved correct. The Savoy week of opera was a great success, with packed attendances and admirable performances. it was also clear that he saw the society as national in dimension and he made no secret of his willingness to tour when possible.
Back in Dublin, meanwhile, Louis Elliman was chuffed by the box-office takings for the DGOS opening week at the Gaiety as they amounted to nearly £900 in cash. He was already looking forward to the winter season for which the programme was already announced. Elliman’s faith in O’Kelly had been fully vindicated and the future for the society looked bright. Capt. O’Kelly, for his part, would say he had found a genuine friend in Elliman who wanted the society to succeed. As he put it, ‘While we worked on a business basis, he became interested also in every aspect of the society and that pleased me.’
And he himself would write later, ‘It speaks volumes for the courage of its founders that, while the greatest war history has known has already raged for nearly two years, the society was launched without financial aid, save the personal guarantee of a small group of enthusiastic opera lovers.’
The society’s joy was in another way short lived, however, for scarcely had that spring season begun when the horror of war came tragically home to Dublin’s citizens, quickly erasing memories of operatic successes and variety laughter at the Gaiety and Theatre Royal. Early on the morning of May 19, a German aircraft unloaded its bomb cargo on the streets of the North Strand scoring direct hits on houses and causing devastation. The attack left 34 dead and 90 seriously injured with 25 houses destroyed and 300 damaged to such a degree that many hundreds became homeless.
it was stated that the attack was a German reprisal for the Irish government’s earlier response to bombings in Belfast, when they sent fire engines to fight the blazes. Later the Ulster Union Club in Belfast proposed raising funds for the Dublin disaster and conveyed their deepest sympathy to the homeless and the relatives of the people who had lost their homes.
Irish newspapers were slim during the war years because of the shortage of newsprint and their editorial content was mainly news from the war fronts, so coverage of the arts scene inevitably suffered; indeed opera & drama reviews were often no more than four or five paragraphs in length. Now the North Strand bombings filled the columns for days and days, leaving practically no space for the arts. The DGOS was fortunate therefore with the timing of its spring season; more fortunate still that none of its amateur choristers was killed or injured in the bombing. It was a grim reminder, nevertheless, that danger was ever present despite the country’s neutrality.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 