The Irish National Opera was created from a merger of the Opera Theatre Company (OTC) and Wide Open Opera in 2017 and launched in January 2018. The new entity continues the tradition of the former Opera Ireland (), Ireland's first permanent national opera company. Although its roots go back to 1941 as the Dublin Grand Opera Society, the company was established in its final form in 1985 as the Dublin Grand Opera Society Ltd. From 1996 until its demise in 2010 it was known as Opera Ireland. During its existence it was based at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre.Randel, Don Michael (2003)
"Ireland"
''The Harvard Dictionary of Music'', p. 421. Harvard University Press.

History

Beginnings

The Dublin Grand Opera Society (DGOS) was founded in 1941 by Captain (later Colonel) William O'Kelly and a group of opera enthusiasts with John McCormack as its patron. The shows were cast with local singers and a volunteer chorus. Initially the music was provided by the orchestra of the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The Ar ...

music school, and later by the Radio Eireann Symphony Orchestra. The Society put on two one-week seasons of opera throughout the years of World War II. After the war ended the DGOS presented performances by European opera companies such as the Opera-Comique,

Hamburg Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

and the

Netherlands Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

. From the mid-1950s to 1966, the Society, concentrated on Italian opera with the help of sponsorship from the Italian government. During that time numerous Italian stars and rising stars of the day appeared there, including

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

who sang in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

'', ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'', and ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

''. The Italian sponsorship ended in 1966, but the

Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ga, An Chomhairle Ealaíon) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts." About It was established in 1951 by the Government of Ireland, to encour ...

and the

Bord Fáilte Cucerdea ( hu, Oláhkocsárd, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi''). The commune is located in the sout ...

(Ireland's tourist board) continued to provide guarantees for any financial losses. New opera companies were brought in, including the Romanian National Opera and the

Prague National Theatre The National Theatre ( cs, Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art. The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a ri ...

.Brennan, Paddy (May 2016)
"DGOS/Opera Ireland. A forgotten legacy?"
''Classical Arts Ireland''. Retrieved 5 November 2017.

Development and demise

In the mid-1980s, after a particularly shambolic production of ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', the DGOS came under pressure from the Arts Council to move towards mounting its own productions and spending more on sets and costumes. The Society was reconstituted as a

private company limited by guarantee In British, Australian, Bermudian, Hong Kong and Irish company law (and previously New Zealand), a company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of corporation used primarily (but not exclusively) for non-profit organisations that require legal pe ...

in 1985 and began the transition from an amateur society to a fully-fledged professional company, taking on its first permanent staff—an Administrator, artistic director and Chorus Master. The volunteer amateur chorus was given a professional "core" through a contract with the

National Chamber Choir of Ireland Chamber Choir Ireland, formerly known as the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, is the Republic of Ireland's national choral ensemble and national chamber choir, and the only regularly funded professional choir in the country. Primarily funded ...

. The British theatre and opera director Michael McCaffery was appointed the company's first artistic director in 1986 and the company continued presenting two one-week seasons each year with two productions each season.Dervan, Michael (19 November 2010)
"Final curtain for Opera Ireland"
''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''. Retrieved 5 November 2017. According to Michael Dervan, the music critic of ''

'', under Michael McCaffery, there were immediate and major improvements in production values. However, McCaffery resigned in 1989 without completing his full contract. His successor, Kenneth Richardson, lasted for only two seasons. Richardson was followed by

Elaine Padmore Elaine Marguirite Padmore (born 1947) is a British opera administrator, broadcaster, and author. From 2000 until her retirement in 2011, she was Director of Opera at London's Royal Opera House. She was awarded an OBE in the 2012 Birthday Honour ...

who at the time was also the artistic director of the

Wexford Festival Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. The festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly gener ...

. When she departed in 1993 to become artistic director of the

Royal Danish Opera The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

, Dorothea Glatt took over. Glatt combined her post at DGOS with her ongoing work as the assistant to

Wolfgang Wagner Wolfgang Wagner (30 August 191921 March 2010) was a German opera director. He is best known as the director (Festspielleiter) of the Bayreuth Festival, a position he initially assumed alongside his brother Wieland in 1951 until the latter's ...

at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

. Her tenure was not a particularly successful one and in 1996 the company advertised once again for a new artistic director. That same year it also officially re-branded itself as Opera Ireland. Opera Ireland ceased operation in 2010. The

had planned to create the Irish National Opera.

Irish National Opera

The project was restarted in 2017 with the formation of a new Irish National Opera to be formed under from the merger of Opera Theatre Company and Wide Open Opera with Fergus Sheil as artistic director. The Irish National Opera officially launched in January 2018 with a production of

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), ''V ...

's chamber opera ''

Powder Her Face ''Powder Her Face'', Op. 14 (1995), is a chamber opera in two acts by the British composer Thomas Adès, with an English libretto by Philip Hensher. The opera is 100 minutes long. It was commissioned by the Almeida Opera, a part of London's A ...

''.Dervan, Michael (3 July 2017)
"Arts Council announces new opera company"
''

''. Retrieved 9 March 2018.Irish Times 9 Jan 201
Irish National Opera launches with a Big Bang!
A day of celebration and an opera marathon mark birth of a new approach to opera

References

External links

* *
Official website
as archived on 10 May 2010
Video: History Of Opera Ireland 1941–2010
(archived)
Brochure for the 1963 Spring Festival of Italian Opera
presented by the Dublin Grand Opera Society {{authority control Opera companies Arts in Dublin (city) Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Music organisations based in the Republic of Ireland 1985 establishments in Ireland 2017 establishments in Ireland