University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra and chorus drawn from the student body. Founded in 1951, UCOpera is known for its productions of rarely performed operas, including 3 world premières, and 22 British premières. On 10 March 2008 UCOpera staged the UK premiere of

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra, which remains a popular work in the standard repe ...

's ''

Fiesque ''Fiesque'' (''The Genoese Conspiracy'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Édouard Lalo. The libretto, by Charles Beauquier, is based on Schiller's 1784 play, '' Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua'', an account of the conspira ...

'', at the Bloomsbury Theatre. 2009 saw another British première, Ernest Bloch's '' Macbeth''. UCOpera extended its list of British premières by staging

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's '' Polyeucte'' at

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...

in 2018, and Smetana's Czech national opera, '' Libuše'' in 2019.

History

The brainchild of the conductor Anthony Addison, (UCL's then Director of Music), University College Opera gave its first performance in 1951 with an all-student production of

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest Eng ...

's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

'', followed by Mozart's ''

Bastien und Bastienne ' (''Bastien and Bastienne''), K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It was allegedly commi ...

''. Even in its earliest years, the company's annual repertoire concentrated on rarely performed operas including: Nicolai's '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (1952),

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become o ...

's '' Don Procopio'' (1955) and

Lortzing Gustav Albert Lortzing (23 October 1801 – 21 January 1851) was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German '' Spieloper'', a form similar to the French '' opéra comique'', whi ...

's '' Der Wildschütz'' (1958). In 1961, the company staged its first UK premiere, Moniuszko's '' Halka''. During its first 17 years, UCOpera's performances took place in the old gymnasium at University College. With the opening of the college's Bloomsbury Theatre in 1968, the company finally acquired a suitable venue for its productions. Under the directorship of George Badacsonyi who served from 1963 to 1976, UCOpera increasingly employed professional opera singers (often in the early stages of their careers) to sing the solo roles, with students making up the chorus and orchestra. Amongst the professional singers who have appeared with the company are

Felicity Lott Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, (born 8 May 1947) is an English soprano. Education Lott was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and bega ...

(who is now the patron of Friends of UCOpera), Robert Lloyd, Jonathan Summers, and

Julian Gavin Julian Gavin (born 1965) is an Australian-born British operatic tenor who has sung leading roles both in the United Kingdom and internationally. His full-length opera recordings include Don José in ''Carmen'' and the title roles in ''Ernani'' an ...

. The company's productions also became more ambitious with a series of UK and world premieres including:

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Das Liebesverbot ' (''The Ban on Love'', WWV 38), is an early comic opera in two acts by Richard Wagner, with the libretto written by the composer after Shakespeare's '' Measure for Measure''. Described as a ', it was composed in early 1836. Restrained sexual ...

'' (1965);

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's ''Die Feuersbrunst'' (1966);

Erkel Erkel may refer to the following. * Arjan Erkel (born 1970), Dutch medical aid worker * Ferenc Erkel (1810–1893), Hungarian composer, who wrote the Hungarian national opera ''Bánk bán'' *Sándor Erkel Sándor Erkel (2 January 1846 – 14 Octo ...

's ''

Bánk bán ''Bánk bán'' is an opera in 3 acts by composer Ferenc Erkel. The work uses a Hungarian-language libretto by Béni Egressy which is based on a stage play of the same name by József Katona. (''Bán'' is ban in English, similar to a viceroy, a ...

'' (1968); and

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's '' Alzira'' (1970). A highlight for the company under the directorship of David Drummond (who served from 1992 to 2001) was UCOpera's world premiere staging of

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...

's '' Hulda'' in its complete form. The 1994 production used a score which Drummond restored from the composer's original manuscript. Drummond's last performance as the company's Director coincided with its 50th anniversary, the 2001 UK premiere of

Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...

's ''

Kullervo Kullervo () is an ill-fated character in the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot. Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, t ...

''. Under the directorship of Charles Peebles UCOpera has produced British premieres of Hahn's '' Ciboulette'', Dvořák's ''

Vanda ''Vanda'', abbreviated in the horticultural trade as ''V.,'' is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. There are about 87 species, and the genus is commonly cultivated for the marketplace. This genus and its allies are considered to be among ...

'', Lalo's ''

'',

's '' Polyeucte'' and Smetana's '' Libuše''. In 2012 UCOpera produced the first staging of

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...

's '' Acante et Céphise'' since the 18th century. After staging at least one opera a year for 69 years, the continuity was broken in 2020, as the production of

's '' L'anima del filosofo'' was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Productions since 2001

(* denotes British premières)

Productions 1951 to 2000

(* denotes British premières) (** denotes world premières)

References

;Notes ;Sources *Christiansen, Rupert
"South Seas romp for desert island Dick"
(review of Offenbach's ''Whittington''), ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 26 March 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2008. *Elleson, Ruth
"Bloch's ''Macbeth''"
(review), ''Opera Today'', 30 March 2009. *Hall, Georg

(review), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 12 March 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008. *Kimberley, Nick
"Epic on a human scale"
(review of Sallinen's ''Kullervo''), ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 29 March 2001. Retrieved 8 March 2008. *Maycock, Robert
"Out of the top drawer"
(review of Franck's ''Hulda''), ''The Independent'', 24 March 1994 *Maycock, Robert

''The Independent'', 24 March 1995 *University College Opera
Company history
(official website)

External links

University College Opera official website

The Bloomsbury Theatre
the main venue for UCOpera performances
UCOpera Photo Gallery
{{authority control British opera companies Opera in London

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

University musical groups in the United Kingdom Performing groups established in 1951 1951 establishments in England