AIDA – VERDI
Presented on Dec 4, 8, 11 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Winter Season
May Devitt – Aida
John Torney – Radames
Patricia Black – Amneris
John Lynskey – Amonasro
Richard Mason – Ramfis
Sam Mooney – King
Marjorie Barry – Priestess
Harry Sheridan – Messenger
Capt J M Doyle – Conductor
Sydney Russell – Producer
In the winter season of … 1942, Capt. O’Kelly had wanted to build the society’s first production of Verdi’s “Aida” around Joan Hammond but was stymied in his plans by George Sleator, who held the soprano to the expiry date of her short-term contract with him. It was a disappointment for the chairman and instead he was obliged at short notice to ask May Devitt to sing the part, with Patricia Black as Amneris. Some members of the DGOS chorus were not surprised by Sleator’s action as he had earlier threatened to hold May Devitt to her contract with the Dublin Operatic Society. In retrospect it was perhaps understandable, for the DOS had engaged both Miss Hammond and Miss Devitt before the DGOS was established.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 