Commemorations for “Ronnie” will rightly concentrate on her incredible achievements as a teacher and motivator of young Irish singing talent and her tireless devotion to that cause. But it’s just as important to highlight another aspect of her unique abilities which tends to be forgotten. Simply put, she was a gifted opera singer, a true ‘stage animal’ who flourished and thrived in the heat of live performances. Had she not chosen to live in lreland, marry and raise her family here who knows what direction her blossoming career might have taken? As a contract artist with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden between 1952 and 1958 among her roles there were, Mimi in “La Boheme”, Sophie in “Der Rosenkavalier”, Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, Antonia in “Tales of Hoffmann”, Blanche in the UK premiere of Poulenc’s “Carmelites” and as Euridice in Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice”, which sadly were to be the final stage appearances of Kathleen Ferrier.
For the DGOS she appeared in 20 productions singing 77 performances of 13 roles from 1950 to a valedictory role as the Countess in The Queen of Spades in 2002. Three moments stand out for me. In 1962 as a wonderful Manon pleading with the Des Grieux of Edward Byles to abandon his priestly vows in an impassioned Saint Sulpice scene from the Massenet opera. High drama indeed. A regal Countess in Mozart’s “Nozze di Figaro” in 1963 and most touching of all as a heartrending Mimi with Charles Craig as Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme” in December 1965. Offstage her earthy humour and ‘no nonsense’ approach endeared her to all. The Wexford Festival heard her as Suzel in “L’Amico Fritz” in 1962 and she made regular guest appearances with the Welsh National 0pera notably as Marenka in “The Bartered Bride”, Elvira in “Don Giovanni” and as Puccini’s Tosca. Audiences in Limerick, Kilrush and Cork also heard her in opera roles ranging from Eily in the “Lily of Killarney” to the title role in Bizet’s “Carmen”.
Opera wasn’t the only string to her bow. Living in Dublin meant she was available for concert work here, and for over 20 years was the soprano of choice in works by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Rossini, Verdi, Mahler, Bruckner, Hindemith, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Kodaly, Janacek and Britten. Ronnie was also involved in many lrish premieres of major works and indeed created works by Irish composers Gerard Victory, Brian Boydell, Seoirse Bodley and James Wilson, who dedicated his “Seven Irish Songs” to her. In addition she was a regular broadcaster with RTE and the BBC in both Radio and television.
The one thing missing from all this activity was a discography worthy of her range and talent. All that was available on CD (at the time of her 80th birthday celebrations), from the half dozen LPs she made, was a reissue on the CFP label of excerpts from The Irish Ring, with a selection of Irish Love Songs filling out the disc. RTE have archived a small number of tapes featuring works by Irish composers. A few private tapes and off-air recordings of some of her lrish performances complete the picture. In November 2005 a function in the United Arts Club in Dublin was held in her honour by former members of the DGOS, where some of these recordings were aired – many of which she had never heard or even knew existed (you can listen to these below – other, complete performances can be heard in the linked pages from her performance history further down the page). At the end of the evening Ronnie, with her characteristic frankness and a justifiable sense of pride, said: ‘you know, I was a bloody good singer back in those days’. Indeed she was. In 2010 EMI produced a 3CD set which went part of the way to redress this imbalance. More importantly Alison Maxwell’s 2016 biography shared her life and career to-date with us all. In Sept 2015 I was asked by Alison to run my eye over the final draft….my e-mail response to her: “Congratulations ….. I just could not put it down …. The real Ronnie just leaped off the pages …. her humanity shining through like a beacon. Her broad achievements as singer and teacher are reasonably well known … It is marvellous to have them fleshed out in loving detail. You have also managed to capture her earthiness, lack of pretension, no nonsense approach and unerring ability to cut through ‘bullshit’. Her many difficulties on and off stage are not shirked. She emerges all the better as a person from this scrutiny. I laughed and I cried as you retold so many of her wonderful stories and I cheered when I saw you had included a number of the risque ones … setting them always in their original context. The mutual bond and affection between Ronnie and her pupils is tangible. The final chapter on her approach to singing will be a reference guide and template for singers and indeed teachers for generations to come.”
Carissima Ronnie, the current crop of Irish singers are so fortunate in the line of teaching you represent … from you back through Hubert Rooney, in turn, his teacher the great Polish Tenor, Jean De Reszke … through to Antonio Cotogni and Giovanni Sbriglia, two legendary Italian singers, baritone and tenor respectively, both singing teachers of the early years of the 19th Century and alumni of the Naples Conservatory … the Italian cradle of Bel Canto ….. Beautiful Singing. What a legacy…
Paddy Brennan, DGOS Archivist
Three recordings made by Veronica Dunne very early in her career
Deh vieni, non tardar – Le Nozze di Figaro – Mozart
Depuis le jour – Louise – Charpentier
Un bel di – Madama Butterfly – Puccini
Radio Eireann Light Orchestra c. Dermot O’Hara
recorded Mar 1948 in Dublin
These are the earliest surviving recordings of Ronnie Dunne
Ronnie Dunne, interviewed by Liz Nolan on LyricFM on the occasion of her 90th birthday
VERONICA DUNNE AT THE DUBLIN OPERA CIRCLE 2005 – RECORDINGS PLAYED
Looking back on the DGOS throughout the 1960S, she was later to observe:
The society, reflected Veronica Dunne, was giving opera a great boost in the sixties – a vintage decade in her view – and she was happy to be part of it, although she would love to have been given the opportunity to sing Butterfly as well as Desdemona in Verdi’s “Otello”. She conceded that opera could be cruel in so far as certain roles escaped singers and it was the same in her case. She had the highest admiration for people like Bill O’Kelly, Dr Larchet, Bertie Timlin and others who had put so much into the society to ensure that Dublin would get the very best. How could anyone forget the wonderful performances by Rinaldi, Zeani, d’Angelo, Stignani, Mancini, Silveri, Cappuccilli and Gian Giacomo Guelfi in both the fifties and sixties? In her opinion, some of these performances matched the best in Europe. While most opera pundits in Ireland felt that Mimi (“Boheme”), Marguerite (“Faust”) and Antonia (“Hoffmann”) were perhaps Veronica Dunne’s best-remembered roles with the society, Sir Charles Mackerras was of the opinion that her Manon in 1962, which he conducted, was very meritorious. ‘I did indeed enjoy my performance of the opera with Veronica Dunne. It was my first experience of the opera and I remember that I admired her performance very much as well as her enthusiasm during rehearsals. The opera is very long and despite many cuts the rehearsals were inadequate, although I can recall that the performance of the principals, especially Veronica Dunne, was extremely good.’
Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998
VERONICA DUNNE – APPEARANCES WITH THE DGOS:
| Spring 1950 | Carmen | Micaela |
| Winter 1951 | Carmen | Micaela |
| Winter 1951 | Faust | Marguerite |
| Spring 1952 | La Boheme | Mimi |
| Spring 1952 | Don Pasquale | Norina |
| Autumn 1952 (Cork) | Faust | Marguerite |
| Winter 1952 | L’Amico Fritz | Suzel |
| Winter 1954 | La Boheme | Mimi |
| Winter 1954 | Carmen | Micaela |
| Winter 1955 | I Pagliacci | Nedda |
| Winter 1955 | Faust | Marguerite |
| Winter 1955 | La Boheme | Mimi |
| Winter 1957 | Les Contes d’Hoffmann | Antonia |
| Winter 1962 | Manon | Manon |
| Winter 1963 | Le Nozze di Figaro | Countess |
| Winter 1964 | Der Rosenkavalier | Sophie |
| Winter 1964 | Les Pecheurs de Perles | Leila |
| Winter 1965 | La Boheme | Mimi |
| Winter 1965 | Don Giovanni | Elvira |
| Winter 2002 (Opera Ireland) | The Queen of Spades | Countess |
VERONICA DUNNE’S OTHER OPERATIC APPEARANCES 1952-1970:
| 1952/3 | Teatro Nuovo, Milan | La Boheme | Mimi |
| 1952/3 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Der Rosenkavalier | Sophie (9) |
| 1952/3 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | La Boheme | Mimi (14) |
| 1952/3 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Orfeo ed Euridice | Euridice (2) |
| 1952/3 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Le Nozze di Figaro | Susanna (1) |
| 1955/6 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Carmen | Micaela (1) |
| 1956/7 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | La Boheme | Musetta (10) |
| 1956/7 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Tales of Hoffmann | Antonia (4) |
| 1957/8 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Tales of Hoffmann | Antonia (2) |
| 1957/8 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | The Carmelites | Blanche (2) |
| 1957/8 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | La Boheme | Mimi (8) |
| 1957/8 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London | Carmen | Micaela (2) |
| 1959 | Limerick | Lily of Kilarney | Eily |
| 1959 | Kilrush | Lily of Kilarney | Eily |
| 1960 | Sadlers Wells, London | La Boheme | Musetta |
| 1961 | Kilrush | Faust | Marguerite |
| 1962 | Wexford | L’Amico Fritz | Suzel |
| 1963 | Kilrush | Carmen | Carmen |
| 1964 | Kilrush | Tosca | Tosca |
| 1965 | Welsh National Opera, Cardiff | Tosca | Tosca |
| 1965 | Welsh National Opera, Cardiff | The Bartered Bride | Marenka |
| 1966 | Welsh National Opera, Cardiff | Don Giovanni | Elvira |
| 1967 | Cork Opera House | Naughty Marietta | Marietta |
| 1970 | Irish National Opera (Tour) | Don Giovanni | Elvira |
There were two substantial tribute concerts to commemorate her 80th and 90th brithdays respectively:
A handsome illustrated biography of Ronnie by Alison Maxwell was published in 2016. At that time, the author wrote:
DR VERONICA DUNNE, affectionately known as Ronnie, has lived a life high on drama and excitement, and an invincible dedication to her art. From a small music studio on Dublin’s Nassau Street to the vast arenas of Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Covent Garden Ronnie has travelled far and performed with some of the greats in the world of opera- Sutherland, Barbirolli, Kubelik, Kraus, Ferrier – and triumphed in roles as diverse as Mimi, Tosca, Carmen, Blanche and Grandma Tzeitzel. Her stage appearances span an astonishing sixty-four years. In the early days of the 1950s, Dublin audiences hailed her as the next Margaret Burke Sheridan. She fulfilled that accolade, and indeed surpassed it, for Ronnie uses her gifts and experience to recognise and train, feed, house and then launch many of lreland’s finest singers to international acclaim. Suzanne Murphy, Patricia Bardon, Anthony Kearns, Tara Erraught and many others have stories of the hard graft, earthy common sense, moments of despair and occasions of hilarity along an often rocky road as Ronnie nurtured their voices and characters to prepare them for the challenge of becoming and remaining operatic stars. The teaching goes on. Students at the Royal Irish Academy of Music are eager to be coached by Ronnie. There is an expectation of success that is realised time and again as they embark upon their careers.
In 1995 Ronnie inaugurated a performance-based competition to provide aspiring Irish singers with a showcase and a proving ground. Since then the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition has flourished and now offers a global stage for the encouragement of young vocalists from Ireland, and the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.
RONNIE explores the extraordinary life and times of a remarkable person. Here are the achievements, the struggles and heartaches, family and friendships of a life lived with verve, courage and passion.
Ronnie’s death aged 93 on 6th April 2021 provoked a warm outpouring of tributes – notably in The Irish Examiner, Irish Times, Irish Independent, thejournal.ie and RTE as well as across a broad swathe of social media. John Bowman presented a three-part tribute to the late soprano:
Retrospective on the life and career of Veronica Dunne (1927-2021) presented by John Bowman
Singers Iarla Ó Lionáird and Veronica Dunne discuss the journey of the human voice and ask, why do we sing and what happens when we do? (First Broadcast December 26th 2017)
Opera in Ireland 