LA FAVORITA – DONIZETTI
Presented on Jun 3, 5, 8 Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Viorica Cortez – Leonora
Jon Piso – Fernando
Attilio d’Orazi – Alfonso
Helge Bömches – Baldassarre
Ann Moran – Ines
Raimondo Botteghelli – Gasparo
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
RIGOLETTO – VERDI
Presented on Jun 4, 6, 12, 14 Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Nicolae Herlea – Rigoletto
Daniela Mazzucato Meneghini – Gilda
Franco Ghitti – Duke
Helge Bömches – Sparafucile
Enrico Fissore – Monterone
Sandra delGrande – Maddalena
Assen Naydenov – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
TOSCA – PUCCINI
Presented on Jun 7, 11, 13, 19 Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Magda Olivero – Tosca
Lino Martinucci – Cavaradossi
Cesare Bardelli – Scarpia
Helge Bömches – Angelotti
Enrico Fissore – Sacristan
Raimondo Botteghelli – Spoletta
William Young – Sciarrone
Ann Murray – Shepherd
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
LA TRAVIATA – VERDI
Presented on Jun 10, 15, 18, 21 Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Aida Abagieff – Violetta
Jon Piso – Alfredo
Attilio d’Orazi – Giorgio
Evelyn Dowling – Flora
Raimondo Botteghelli – Gastone
Enzo Franci – Baron
William Young – Marchese
Joseph Dalton – Dr Grenvil
Monica Condron – Annina
Assen Naydenov – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
TURANDOT – PUCCINI
Presented on Jun 17, 20, 22 Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Margarita Radulova – Turandot
Lino Martinucci – Calaf
Mary Sheridan – Liù
Helge Bömches – Timur
Enrico Fissore – Ping
Patrick Ring – Pang
Brendan Cavanagh – Pong
Raimondo Botteghelli – Altoum
William Young – Mandarin
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Enrico Frigerio – Producer
There had been disappointment, meanwhile, in Cork operatic circles when the proposed visit by the society fell through. Lengthy talks took place between both parties with Colonel O’Kelly, the DGOS chairman making it clear to Opera House manager Bill Twomey and his board directors that unless a firm guarantee against loss was forthcoming from Cork it would be foolhardy for the society to enter into any arrangement. When no such guarantee could be secured all thought of the proposed visit was abandoned. Looking back, Donnie Potter said they had no other option, though he sympathised with true lovers of opera in Cork. Harold Johnson, an Opera House shareholder, says he was bitterly disappointed by the news. But he was determined to press the Opera House directors to ‘make it happen in the future’. He believed the obstacles were far from insurmountable. There was more disappointment awaiting the society as they planned the winter season. It had been hoped to stage “Eugene Onegin” for the first time but these hopes were shattered when the Russian army occupied Czechoslovakia and protests followed all over the world. The management committee met and it was unanimously felt that to go ahead with the production might place the society and the visiting artists in a very uncomfortable situation should any protest meetings be organised in Dublin. Reluctantly it was decided to defer the production and, instead, stage “The Barber of Seville”. It was hoped in early January 1969 that the Italian subvention would be available for the spring season and in this respect Colonel O’Kelly and Donnie Potter travelled to Rome to meet the Minister for Spectacolo and present their case. Potter recalls they tried very hard to make a strong case but by the end of that month were informed the subvention could not be granted. The season’s programme had to be revised with “I Puritani” and “Simon Boccanegra” omitted from the list. The society once again was struggling financially. Losses of £10,500 and £6,400 were reported on the spring and winter seasons of ’68 repectively, however the Arts Council grant of £10,000 backed by a rise in box-office receipts and patrons’ subscriptions made the picture look less desperate.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 