THE BARTERED BRIDE – SMETANA
Presented on Nov 29, Dec 1, 3, 9 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin by soloists from Czech National Theatre Prague as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Winter Season
Daniela Sounova – Marenka
Bohumil Cerny – Jeník
Jaroslav Horacek – Kecal
Alfred Hampel – Vašek
William Young – Krušina
Mary Sheridan – Ludmilla
Ruth Maher – Háta
Brendan Keyes – Mícha
Terry Reid – Esmeralda
Patrick Ring – Circus Master
Albert Rosen – Conductor
Jaroslav Horacek – Producer
EUGENE ONEGIN – TCHAIKOVSKY
Presented on Nov 30, Dec 2, 4, 7 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Winter Season
Nikola Mitic – Onegin
Hagint Vartanian – Tatyana
Franco Bonanome – Lensky
Zivan Saramandic – Gremin
Breda Kalef – Olga
Ruth Maher – Larina
Elvira Kohenoff d’Alboni – Filippyevna
Brendan Cavanagh – Triquet
Brendan Keyes – Zaretsky
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Tom Hawkes – Producer
FAUST – GOUNOD
Presented on Dec 6, 8, 10, 11 at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Winter Season
Franco Bonanome – Faust
Lorraine Nawa Jones – Marguerite
Zivan Saramandic – Méphistophélès
William Young – Valentin
Mary Sheridan – Siébel
Ruth Maher – Martha
Brendan Keyes – Wagner
Napoleone Annovazzi – Conductor
Tom Hawkes – Producer
Operas apart, there were other matters that tended to occupy Colonel O’Kelly’s mind in that year of ’76. Earlier, the society had received a letter from Colm O’Briain, director of the Arts Council, stating it was proposed to set up a special committee on Opera in Ireland and that it was intended to include representatives of the major opera promoting bodies on the committee. The DGOS chairman, believing that the council wanted to exert some control over the affairs of the society, wondered at the outset whether it was wise for them to be represented on the advisory committee. Donnie Potter felt it was better to be ‘in’ rather than ‘out’ of the new body and that others had signalled their intention of being represented. Dr Tom Walsh, director of the Wexford Festival, would head the committee and the Arts Council was represented by Veronica Dunne, Norris Davidson, Bill Skinner and Gerard Victory, RTE’s head of music. Colm O’Briain made it known he had ‘no big stick to wave’ and that in reality he was trying to fill what he saw as a vacuum and that opera in general should have an active lobby to press for what it needed and to act as a pressure group for more money. He was quick to add however that quite irrespective of the OAC, the Arts Council no longer considered itself just an animated cheque book but believed it should take some responsibility with the opera-makers. He did not outline any possible conditions to be imposed on the DGOS in the future, although in this respect Colonel O’Kelly raised the question at a society’s management committee meeting later whether the council would in time seek control over the selection of the operas. He hated interference with his ‘democratic society’, though he was happy to accept money from the council. It was by now common knowledge in the society that the council felt an artistic director should be appointed as in the case of the Wexford Festival. The society’s reply was that in its president, Professor Anthony Hughes and Maestro Annovazzi they had people thoroughly qualified to advise artistically. It was clear however that the council wanted a significant say in the running of opera in the country, which was understandable in view of the funding it was supplying, although the £24,000 being donated to the DGOS against loss was a paltry amount and totally inadequate to the society’s growing needs. The council had also made it known that it wanted higher standards with regard to DGOS productions and it was felt that this would not happen until an artistic director was appointed. Colonel O’Kelly was the first to admit that the standard of the society’s productions varied, mainly because of the limited budget available. As he liked to say, ‘Give us the money and we’ll give you the productions you want.’ Monica Condron in her comprehensive report for the year stated, ‘In closing my report last year I said the winds of change might be approaching and the future of the society could well be in the balance. ‘Well, I am happy to say that by and large things seem to have settled into calmer waters.’ As though to show that the society could draw on revenue from other sources than the Arts Council, the report stated that more than 40,000 people had seen its eight productions at the Gaiety Theatre, and that in addition their guarantors had been supportive, the Ladies’ Committee had donated £2,000 and that it was hoped the number of patron members could be soon raised to the 1,000 mark. However, wiser heads in the society privately felt that the Arts Council wanted the society’s structures changed and the amateur tag replaced in time by a professional one. Few dared to predict the ultimate changes, at least within earshot of Colonel O’Kelly who up to now had been lord of all he surveyed.
The year meanwhile ended on a particularly happy note with the marriage of pretty dark-haired Terry Reid and Franco Bonanome, the tenor with the handsome Mediterranean looks. They had fallen in love in Cork during the run of “La Boheme” in which she sang Musetta and Franco the poet Rodolfo, and inside no time at all he had popped the question and Terry was happy to accept his proposal. It was perhaps appropriate that Fr Peter Shields, head of the Dundalk Gramophone Circle, should officiate at the wedding ceremony as he had rarely missed their performances at the Gaiety Theatre and, of course, they had sung at his fund-raising concerts in Dundalk Town Hall with other guest artists. It will be remembered that soprano Adele Leigh and bass James Pease met also in opera in Dublin in the fifties and were wed in London.
Earlier in the sixties, the romance and wedding of tenor Ruggero Bondino and Diana Edge created considerable interest. Diana hailed from a wealthy Dublin family and was exceedingly good-looking and glamorous. Bondino was dark and handsome and had made his name with the DGOS in operas such as “Traviata” and “La Sonnambula”. They had first met at a post-opera supper and party and later settled in Italy. And it was not unusual for chorus members to meet and marry; one such couple were John Carney and Brigid Finucane. In addition, there were numerous affairs, some tense, others fleeting, involving choristers and visiting guest artists and inevitably some broken hearts. There were liaisons also between Italian and Romanian artists and Irish people on the fringe of opera or perhaps DGOS patrons. I once went to the old Royal Hibernian Hotel in Dawson Street to interview a visiting star for the Sunday Independent and found a well-known Abbey Theatre actress waiting for him with a bouquet of flowers. His plane had been delayed so I discreetly left a message instead for him. When one tried to contact a star in her dressing room after a performance it was often virtually impossible because of her adoring Irish friends. It was no different to the Wexford Festival where voluptuous sopranos and mezzo-sopranos invariably attracted opera buffs. Florrie Draper enjoyed watching the romantic scene surrounding the DGOS, and while working in the costume department had sometimes to listen to sopranos complain that their boyfriends or husbands overseas were upset because they hadn’t heard from them. Florrie found it all amusing, though understandable, and had sympathy for some of the artists. ‘Some of them could be emotional and I used to be afraid it would upset their singing. I’d give a bit of advice for what it was worth and I don’t know whether they took it or not.’ It was said that Maestro Annovazzi frowned on female artists staying out late if they had a demanding week of opera. He was known to get cross and rebuke them. Mostly, however, artists were discreet about their affairs and it was sometimes difficult to draw a distinction between friendship and a relationship. Once or twice Annovazzi was called on by Colonel O’Kelly to sort out ‘messy affairs’ and ‘infatuations’ and he did not hesitate to remind a tenor or baritone of their marital responsibilities back home in Italy. For the most part the visitors enjoyed themselves and made the Gaiety their spiritual home, cooking pasta and spaghetti in room No. 7 upstairs (The Wardrobe) and trying at the same time to make themselves understood to their Irish friends.
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 