In many ways the story of opera in Dublin was – for almost 60 years – the story of the the voluntary amateur chorus which formed the backbone of the organisation from 1941 to 1998. Without the dedicated members of that chorus, there simply wouldn’t have been any DGOS…
Drawn from all spheres of Irish life, they honed their craft guided by some 45 Chorus Masters (14 of whom were Irish) and performed in six languages: English, Italian, French, German, Czech and Russian.
Extant roll books and programmes over those years list some 769 active members, 422 ladies and 347 men, whose talent and commitment enabled Irish audiences to enjoy the best of opera at affordable prices.
DGOS Performing members Roll-of-Honour
THE DGOS CHORUS COMMEMORATIVE CD – 25 TRACKS CELEBRATING 25 YEARS
For a meeting of the Dublin Opera Circle in 2009, a celebratory CD was compiled using tracks carefully selected from existing recordings covering 25 years of the Chorus – 1962-1986. The selection of tracks proved a challenge when restricted to the running time of a single CD and seven items were sacrificed to make the contents fit; so it is with great pleasure that we present the more generous selection below as originally intended:
25 Years of DGOS Chorus – 1962–1986
- 1962 – Wagner: Tannhäuser: Freudig begrussen [Act 2] – Paul/Somerville
- 1964 – Verdi – Nabucco – Opening Chorus [Act 1] – Annovazzi/Richards/Bottino
- 1964 – Verdi – La Traviata – Gypsy chorus/Matadors [Act 2, Scene 2] – Guardnieri/Richards/Bottino
- 1965 – Puccini – Madama Butterfly – Humming Chorus [Act 2] – Morelli/Richards/Egea
- 1966 – Verdi – Il Trovatore – Anvil Chorus [Act 2] – Morelli/Somerville/Nistri
- 1969 – Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin – Hail to the Dance [Act 2] – Annovazzi/Reddin/Broome
- 1970 – Giordano – Andrea Chenier – Pastoral Chorus [Act 1] – Annovazzi/Brady/Reddin/Barbieri
- 1970 – Beethoven – Fidelio – O Welche Lust [Act 1] – Rosen/Brady/Reddin/Evans
- 1971 – Verdi – Aida – Chi mai [Act 2] – Annovazzi/Brady/Reddin/Barbieri
- 1971 – Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor – per te d’immenso giubilo [Act 2 scene 2] Rosen/Brady/Reddin/Barbieri
- 1971 – Smetana – Bartered Bride – Opening Chorus [Act 1] – Rosen/Brady
- 1972 – Gounod – Faust – Waltz [Act 2] – Annovazzi/Brady/Reddin/Robinson
- 1973 – Verdi – La Forza del Destino – Rataplan[Act 3] – Annovazzi/Brady/Reddin/Coussell
- 1976 – Verdi – Otello – Una Vela … Fuoco di Gioia [Act 1] – Annovazzi/Brady/D’Angelo
- 1976 – Gounod – Faust – Soldier’s Chorus [Act 4] – Annovazzi/Brady/D’Angelo/Giaccone
- 1977 – Verdi – Nabucco – Va Pensiero [Act 3] – Annovazzi/Brady/Benaglio/Fanfani
- 1977 – Wagner – Tannhauser – Freudig begrussen [Act 2] – Annovazzi/Brady/Giannini
- 1978 – Puccini – Turandot – Popolo di Pekino [Act 1] – Annovazzi/Benaglio/Prestia
- 1978 – Verdi – Don Carlo – Auto-da-fe [Act 3] – Annovazzi/Brady/Prestia
- 1979 – Verdi – Macbeth – Patria oppressa [Act 4] – Annovazzi/Brady/Rigolin
- 1980 – Ponchielli – La Gioconda – Feste Pane [Act 1] – Annovazzi/Brady/Smedley/Prestia
- 1980 – Beethoven – Fidelio – Act 2 Finale – Rosen/Brady/Pelosi
- 1981 – Bellini – Norma – Non Parti? [Act 2] – Annovazzi/Brady/Pelosi
- 1982 – Verdi – Il Trovatore – Or co dadi ma fra poco [Act 3] – Rosen/Brady/Contardo
- 1986 – Puccini – Turandot – Opening of opera / Act 3 Finale – Veneri/Gilbert
“La Boheme” remained a favourite with the chorus [throughout the 1960s and beyond] because, as Paddy Brennan recalled, ‘you never knew who you’d bump into in the Cafe Momus scene. Bill O’Kelly and Maestro Botti were always a fixture there and were attired in the most outlandish costumes. The chorus master might be seated in the café on some nights also, and if a star guest artist was free he might drop in to join the chorus. It was a morale booster for us all and integrated the company.’ Around this time they were joined by some professional choristers from Italy and these could be a big help in tricky musical moments. In the case of “Ernani”, for instance, they were very useful, sometimes shepherding the amateur chorus members round the stage or cueing them at vital dramatic points. To Paddy Brennan, their presence was highly important. ‘We could not have sustained works like “Ernani” or “Don Carlo” without this professional support.’ Dympna Carney made the point that in the sixties the chorus, singing in numerous big productions, were often over-stretched. ‘The truth was that you had to be a lover of opera or mad to be part of the chorus, I mean to commit oneself to such a workload. But we carried on gallantly because we all loved singing and being part of the exciting scene. True, there was bickering and the odd row and show of temperament, yet it was a wonderful outlet for a lot of people and a great way to get rid of stress. The tiring bits I found were the rehearsals themselves and you needed resilience and stamina to keep going; above all, enthusiasm. It helped, of course, that my husband Tom was part of the same scene and I knew he loved everything about it.’ Monica Condron, who by now had graduated to small roles in the different productions and was also assistant secretary, felt the whole scene became part of one – the singing, rehearsals, gala nights, fund-raising functions and meeting the guest artists, so one never thought of opting out. ‘We were enjoying ourselves and didn’t mind making sacrifices for the society. Bill O’Kelly was very grateful and so we felt we had a responsibility to him to keep the society ticking over. I don’t regret a moment of my involvement.’ To Aileen Walsh, joint treasurer, the whole thing was time-consuming and as a teacher, she often wondered how she found the time but as in the case of Monica Condron, one season slipped into another and Bill O’Kelly, Dr Larchet and the others in the management committee expected the status quo to remain intact. ‘I didn’t seem to have time to think of anything else but opera and the financial crises that affected us from time to time.’ There were also some unsung heroes during those hectic spring seasons, in particular the Gaiety backstage staff and the society’s stage manager the kilted Scot, Patrick MacClellan, who worked tirelessly and ensured that props were obtained for every new production. George McFall worked closely with him and said it was a gruelling job handling six major productions in a single season. ‘Patrick never complained and worked terribly long hours and gave as good as he got to Bill O’Kelly. But Bill trusted him completely and if a special prop was needed Patrick would go off hunting to antique shops to get it. And if he happened to borrow a prop it had to be kept safely for its owners.’ Sometimes there were mishaps backstage and these might lead to a temporary crisis. Once McFall was amused during a performance of “The Tales of Hoffmann”, conducted by Maestro Annovazzi. Since the gondola did not appear on stage until act two, the backstage staff set it in place in act one and as Annovazzi came out of his dressing room at the interval between the acts to resume his place on the rostrum he happened to spot the gondola and immediately ‘saw red’. As it was painted black and silver, he refused to start the performance until the colours were changed; in Italy these colours were synonymous with a funeral hearse and being superstitious, the conductor was adamant in his stand. George McFall realised he had to act quickly or the performance was in jeopardy. ‘No one could reassure Annovazzi that there was nothing wrong with the colours. I grabbed one of the chorus members’ cloaks, he recalls, ‘and threw it on the gondola and said to the conductor, “Now it’s covered. Maestro, can you go on?” As he looked at it, I added that I would have it repainted next morning. He was still nodding his head as he joined the orchestra.’
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 