LA TRAVIATA – VERDI
Presented on May 12m, 17, 19 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Rosanna Giancola – Violetta
Christopher Reumer – Alfredo
Tom Williams – Giorgio
Jean Healy – Flora
Brendan Cavanagh – Gastone
Joseph Flood – Baron
Thomas Brady – Marchese
Martin Dempsey – Dr Grenvil
Monica Condron – Annina
Lt-Col J M Doyle – Conductor
Powell Lloyd – Producer
Vilem Tausky was conducting a new production of “La Traviata” with the Italian soprano Rosanna Giancola singing Violetta. It was soon evident to the Gaiety’s backstage staff that the “Barber” set was not only unique but would take a long time to build on the stage. ‘We worked all night putting it up,’ recalled George McFall, ‘and it filled the stage. It was three storeys high and you could step from the top floor onto what we called the fly gallery. I had never seen anything like it and said so to our stage director Pat McClellan. The only trouble was that it would take two days to dismantle, so I asked him “What’s going to happen when they perform “Traviata” on the night after the Barber?”‘ . To chorus member Charlie Dunphy the set was ingenious and capable of accommodating thirty people on its top floors. He had never seen Dr Bartolo’s house of that size. Like George McFall, he wondered how the society was going to get around the problem of following the “Barber” with “Traviata”. The set had been designed by the Hamburg Company’s Alfred Siercke and sliding panels opened the central hall door, and first and second storey rooms at either side. A central staircase figured with considerable effect in the general movement of the characters. The audience would no doubt find the design revolutionary, for in the past they had been accustomed to see only a section of Dr Bartolo’s house but Siercke afforded a view of the entire facade. There was a magical effect when lights were turned on in the rooms and one glimpsed characters moving from one to another or from floor to floor. Apart from the set design, there were other aspects of the production that thrilled the capacity audiences. It was being sung in German for one thing, and Dr Bartolo was presented as more comedian than gouty, grotesque figure, a natural schemer sporting no eccentric make-up. Adolf Meyer-Bremen was brilliant in the role. ‘This opera is a comedy,’ commented one reviewer, ‘but last night the comedy was emphasised to such an extent that seasoned opera fans gasped. A Broadway musical could not equal the breathless speed and precision with which the new Barber was given, and the setting is a remarkable example of inventive genius.’ Although the cast as a whole won over the critics, it was clear that Annaliese Rothenberger’s beguiling Rosina captured the hearts of the audience. A natural actress as well as a stylish singer, it was her infectious humour on stage that received most comment. The soprano had first made her mark at Mannheim, when at a concert her Mozart performances were noticed by Gunther Rennert who almost at once brought her to Hamburg. Now she fitted easily into his idea of a ‘German Barber’. And there were other outstanding portrayals by Horst Gunther as Figaro and Fritz Lehnert’s lyric tenor as Count Almaviva that enthralled operagoers. Arthur Gruber was back in Dublin to conduct the Radio Eireann Symphony Orchestra. To Norris Davidson, who had introduced the Rossini opera to Radio Eireann listeners, it was a milestone in the history of the Dublin Grand Opera Society. He had been sometimes disappointed in the past by the mundane stagings of productions in the Gaiety Theatre, but the Hamburg people had shown what could be done with money and imagination. It was an example to everyone, especially the teamwork displayed by the Hamburg casts. ‘To say that I enjoyed the “Barber” would be an understatement; I can still see Dr Bartolo’s house before me, his rooms, the staircase, everything. How could I ever forget it!’ The Barber was undoubtedly a difficult act to follow, no matter how good the production, and few people could deny that Mozart’s “II Seraglio” was anything but first-rate in every way. Director Gunther Rennert adhered to the style of the period and in Theo Hermann had an Osmin who really delighted audiences. As one veteran critic remarked, ‘Hermann is remarkable, he can convey a whole comic situation with a twinkle of an eye.’ Once again audiences took to Annaliese Rothenberger and her performance as Blonde, but it was Clara Ebers, as Konstanze, who made the biggest impression, her first act aria winning unstinted applause. When it came to staging “La Traviata” it seems that Comdt. O’Kelly was at one point in favour of taking down the “Barber” set and putting it back the next day but the Germans wouldn’t hear of it and argued that because of its size and solidity it must remain, otherwise they would make an issue of the matter. A compromise was arrived at; it was decided to cover most of the set with black silk drapery and perform “Traviata” with the minimum of props and scarcely any scenery. Charlie Dunphy remembers that it was akin to putting on an opera in the National Concert Hall today and the audience hadn’t minded and appeared to enjoy it. ‘I think the music is so good in the piece that it can be staged anywhere.’ Florrie Draper, who sang in the chorus, recalls that when it was suggested that the “Barber” set be taken down for the night the Germans became very cross and wouldn’t hear of it. She was present when they exchanged some words with Bill O’Kelly and when he saw how determined they were he agreed to leave it on stage. She used to call the “Barber” set the doll’s house but after seeing Bill O’Kelly involved in the row with the Germans she thought twice about joking about it. He wasn’t amused when people came up to him and casually remarked, isn’t that “Barber” set smashing?’ On one such occasion he seemed to lose his patience and shaking his head, retorted, ‘I don’t ever want to see that bloody thing again.’ The society had a very big chorus at the time and she wondered how they were going to be accommodated on the limited stage space. ‘The funny thing is that we were,’ she recalls, ‘and no one seemed to notice how we were wedged in. They cut out the ballet altogether and the chorus looked more static than they should. I still think it was better than hauling down that “Barber” set which was as solid as a rock.’ George McFall says that it took two days to take it down and this was done under German supervision as it would be used again in Germany. It wasn’t a good idea, he thought, to follow the “Barber” with “Traviata” as it posed problems for everyone. It might have been a better idea to hold a concert instead. But he had to agree that it was an amazing set, a work of real ingenuity. Whatever about the backstage problems, the Hamburg State Company enjoyed their stay in the city. Mona Brase was able to converse with them in fluent German and recalls she accompanied some of them on shopping sprees as there were still lots of goods they couldn’t buy at home. She herself had noticed in the Gaiety the gasps from the audience when they first saw the “Barber” set, and the excitement that prevailed, but in Germany people didn’t react always in that way. It was, she believed, this spontaneity and enthusiasm that thrilled the Hamburg visitors. Comdr. O’Kelly was never the one to let a problem get in the way of progress. His motto was to press ahead and in this philosophy he was supported by Dr Larchet, Bertie Timlin and Michael Dinnigan, though by the latter trio in a more cautious way.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 