“EIGHTH FESTIVAL OF ITALIAN OPERA”
IL TROVATORE – VERDI
Presented on Apr 23, 25, 27, 30 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Umberto Borsò – Manrico
Luisa Maragliano – Leonora
Piero Cappuccilli – Di Luna
Lucia Danieli – Azucena
Loris Gambelli – Ferrando
Luciana Palombi / Margherita Rinaldi[Apr23] – Ines
Ottavio Ziino – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
LA BOHÈME – PUCCINI
Presented on Apr 24, 26, 28, May 2 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Edy Amedeo – Mimi
Umberto Grilli – Rodolfo
Valeria Mariconda – Musetta
Enzo Sordello – Marcello
Plinio Clabassi – Colline
Giorgio Giorgetti – Schaunard
Ernesto Vezzosi – Benoit
Giorgio Onesti – Alcindoro
Ottavio Ziino – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
GIANNI SCHICCHI – PUCCINI
Presented on May 1, 4, 11, 14 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Scipio Colombo – Schicchi
Valeria Mariconda – Lauretta
Angelo Marchiandi – Rinuccio
Anna di Stasio – Zita
Luciana Palombi – Nella
Loris Gambelli – Simone
Ernesto Vezzosi – Marco
Giorgio Giorgetti – Gherardo
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
SUOR ANGELICA – PUCCINI
Presented on May 1, 4, 11, 14 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Edy Amedeo – Suor Angelica
Paola Mantovani – La Zia Principessa
Anna di Stasio – La Badessa
Valeria Mariconda – Suor Genoveva
Luciana Palombi – La Suora Zelatrice
Noreen Ryan – Suor Dolcina
Dympna Carney – Suor Osima
Kitty Vaughan – Maestra delle Novizie
Monica Condron / Joan Rooney – Cercatrici
Mary Troy – Una Novizia
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
IL MEDICO SUO MALGRADO – ALLEGRA
Presented on May 1 ,4, 11, 14 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Scipio Colombo – Sganarello
Anna di Stasio – Martina
Angelo Marchiandi – Leandro
Margherita Rinaldi – Lucinda
Giorgio Onesti – Geronte
Loris Gambelli – Valeria
Edwin Fitzgibbon – Luca
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR – DONIZETTI
Presented on May 3, 5, 9, 12 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Margherita Rinaldi – Lucia
Umberto Borsò – Edgardo
Enzo Sordello – Enrico
Plinio Clabassi – Raimondo
Edwin Fitzgibbon – Arturo
Luciana Palombi – Alisa
Brendan O’Riordan – Normanno
Ottavio Ziino – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
LA TRAVIATA – VERDI
Presented on May 8, 13, 16, 18 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Elena Todeschi – Violetta
Umberto Grilli – Alfredo
Piero Cappuccilli / Enzo Sordello[May18] – Giorgio
Luciana Palombi – Flora / Annina
James Brittain – Gastone
Giorgio Onesti – Baron
Ernesto Vezzosi – Marchese
Loris Gambelli – Dr Grenvil
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
NABUCCO – VERDI
Presented on May 10, 14, 17, 19 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Gian Giacomo Guelfi – Nabucco
Luisa Maragliano – Abigaille
Ferruccio Mazzoli – Zaccaria
Angelo Marchiandi – Ismaele
Paola Mantovani – Fenena
Loris Gambelli – High Priest
Edwin Fitzgibbon – Abdallo
Luciana Palombi – Anna
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
Maestro Annovazzi was certainly being kept busy and was rewarding the society’s faith in his musical skills. According to Geraldine O’Grady he was an outstanding operatic conductor. ‘He breathed and lived the music and she used to think he had the face of somebody who loved music and it was written all over him and his musicianship was undeniable. During an actual performance he sang every word and note and so was a superb guide to singers. Although he projected a quiet personality, musically he was demanding and more than once in rehearsal he emitted a few yells when singers got it wrong or a musician’s concentration lapsed. Most of the time his irritation was justified. As he was a good communicator, he was able to get through to everyone what he wanted.’ Two years previously she had joined the orchestra as leader and enjoyed playing at the DGOS opera seasons, even if they were very different from her symphonic engagements with the orchestra. She had been deeply moved by the performances of “Norma” and in that ’62 season both “Nabucco” and “Traviata”. There was little to choose between the individual performances by Gian Giacomo Guelfi and Piero Cappuccilli, though she would never forget Cappuccilli’s opening bars of ‘Di Provenza’ in “Traviata” ‘I could hardly play with the emotional impact on me. It was one of the first times a voice made me almost forget I was playing.’ To Geraldine O’Grady there were some drawbacks playing in the Gaiety. The pit itself could be freezing and it was there she got her first attack of fibrositis on her neck and shoulders and it stayed with her ever since. For some reason the place always seemed cold in March and April and opera rehearsals could be a chore, with draughts of cold air coming from the back stage. Furthermore, since most dress rehearsals were held on a Sunday she seldom got the day off. ‘I don’t think I ever had Easter Sunday off during my four years leading the orchestra. And it was a hectic schedule, too, with scarcely time for lunch.’ Musicians hadn’t the same rights then as they enjoy nowadays and often she felt they were being exploited. Ironically, though, she never felt tired, mainly because she was exhilarated by the music itself. After an exciting performance she would feel heady and usually tried to relax over a chat and a late night meal. And it was enjoyable playing the music of different operatic composers. A Mozart opera was the most difficult to accompany and one could never relax one’s concentration for a moment. The appeal of the Italian repertoire was contained in the lovely melodies and the opportunity it afforded artists to show off their voices. There were times when the atmosphere in the Gaiety could be electric and the audience on a high; at other times it could be amusing. As when they were playing for the triple bill that season. ‘I can recall there was a donkey in “Suor Angelica” and at the interval between “Gianni Schicchi” and they were preparing the stage, which at the time was old and full of cracks. Anyway, this musician was smoking a cigarette and the next thing the donkey did his No 2 and it all poured down on top of his bow tie and tuxedo. Obviously the animal had a gastric upset and here I was witnessing it all. What could I say or do? Next moment, the violinist dashed to the nearest door and since it was the ladies there were shrieks from the inside. It was no use, he had to be sent home in a taxi for a clean-up. ‘I remember we played on without him. But oh, what a smell it had been.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
There was also a Celebration Banquet on 22nd April 1962 at the Royal Hibernian Hotel in Dublin to commemorate the 21st Anniversary of the founding of the DGOS:
Opera in Ireland 