University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of University College London. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra, chorus and some singers drawn from the student body.[1] Founded in 1951, UCOpera is renowned for its productions of under-performed operas, which include the stagings of 3 world premières and 23 British premières to date. On 10 March 2008, UCOpera staged the UK première of Édouard Lalo's Fiesque, at the Bloomsbury Theatre.[2] 2009 saw another British première, Ernest Bloch's Macbeth.[3] UCOpera extended its list of British premières by staging Gounod's Polyeucte at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2018,[4] Smetana's Czech national opera Libuše in 2019,[5] and Robert Ward's The Crucible in 2024.
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 The Bloomsbury Theatre, University College Opera's main performance venue | |
| Abbreviation | UCOpera |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1951 |
| Type | Student opera company |
| Location |
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Parent organization | Students' Union UCL |
| Affiliations | UCL Symphony Orchestra UCL Symphony Chorus |
| Website | ucopera.co.uk |
History
editThe 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's Dido and Aeneas, followed by Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne. 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's Don Procopio (1955) and Lortzing's Der Wildschütz (1958). In 1961, the company staged its first UK première, 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 (who is now the patron of Friends of UCOpera), Robert Lloyd, Jonathan Summers and Julian Gavin. The company's productions also became more ambitious with a series of UK and world premières including: Wagner's Das Liebesverbot (1965); Haydn's Die Feuersbrunst (1966); Erkel's Bánk bán (1968); and Verdi's Alzira (1970).
A highlight for the company under the directorship of David Drummond (who served from 1992 to 2001) was UCOpera's world première staging of César Franck's Hulda in its complete form. The 1994 production used a score which Drummond restored from the composer's original manuscript.[6] Drummond's last performance as the company's Director coincided with its 50th anniversary, the 2001 UK première of Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo.[7]
Under the directorship of Charles Peebles, UCOpera has produced British premières of Hahn's Ciboulette, Dvořák's Vanda, Lalo's Fiesque, Gounod's Polyeucte and Smetana's Libuše. In 2012 UCOpera produced the first staging of Rameau'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 Haydn's L'anima del filosofo was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
Since 2022, UCOpera has been under the baton of Matt Scott Rogers. The first UCOpera production under Rogers was Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (2023). This was followed in 2024 by the company's UK première of Robert Ward's The Crucible, adapted from the celebrated Arthur Miller play of the same name.
Productions since 2001
edit| Year | Production[9] | Composer | Conductor | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Crucible* | Robert Ward | Matt Scott Rogers | Eleanor Strutt |
| 2023 | Susannah | Carlisle Floyd | Matt Scott Rogers | Isabelle Kettle |
| 2022 | La naissance d'Osiris[10] | Rameau | Charles Peebles | Annelise Bucher (choreographer) |
| 2022 | Thamos, König in Ägypten (incidental music)[10] | Mozart | Charles Peebles | concert performance |
| 2019 | Libuše*[5] | Smetana | Charles Peebles | Cecilia Stinton |
| 2018 | Polyeucte*[4] | Gounod | Charles Peebles | Thomas Guthrie |
| 2017 | Aroldo[11] | Verdi | Charles Peebles | Pia Furtado |
| 2016 | La favorite[12] | Gaetano Donizetti | Charles Peebles | John Ramster |
| 2015 | Amadis de Gaule[13] | Johann Christian Bach | Charles Peebles | Jack Furness |
| 2014 | The Snowmaiden | Rimsky-Korsakov | Charles Peebles | Christopher Cowell |
| 2013 | I Lombardi | Verdi | Charles Peebles | Jamie Hayes |
| 2012 | Acante et Céphise* | Rameau | Charles Peebles | Christopher Cowell |
| 2011 | The Three Pintos (Die Drei Pintos) | Weber/Mahler | Charles Peebles | John Ramster |
| 2010 | Genoveva | Schumann | Charles Peebles | Emma Rivlin |
| 2009 | Macbeth* | Bloch | Charles Peebles | John Ramster |
| 2008 | Fiesque* | Lalo | Charles Peebles | Emma Rivlin |
| 2007 | Camacho's Wedding | Mendelssohn | Charles Peebles | Duncan Macfarland |
| 2006 | Alfonso und Estrella | Schubert | Charles Peebles | Stephen Barlow |
| 2005 | Whittington | Offenbach | Charles Peebles | Jamie Hayes |
| 2004 | Vanda* | Dvořák | Charles Peebles | Matthias Janser |
| 2003 | Ciboulette* | Hahn | Charles Peebles | Daniele Guerra |
| 2002 | Benvenuto Cellini | Berlioz | Charles Peebles | Jamie Hayes |
| 2001 | Kullervo* | Sallinen | David Drummond | Paul Curran |
(* denotes British premières)
(* denotes British premières)
(** denotes world premières)
References
edit- Notes
- ^ Maycock (24 March 1995)
- ^ Hall (12 March 2008)
- ^ Elleson (March 2009)
- ^ a b "Polyeucte, UC Opera, Theatre Royal, Stratford East, March 2018". 20 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ a b Anna Picard (19 March 2019). "Review: Libuse at the Bloomsbury Theatre, WC1". The Times. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ Maycock (24 March 1994)
- ^ Kimberley (29 March 2001)
- ^ "UCOpera | Haydn: L'anima del filosofo". ucopera.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ^ a b UCOpera. "UCOpera - Past Productions". ucopera.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ a b "UCOpera 2022 Programme". Internet Archive. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Picard, Anna (23 March 2017). "Opera: Aroldo at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, E15". Retrieved 4 April 2018 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ Christiansen, Rupert (17 March 2016). "La Favorite - Another Donizetti rarity gets a welcome revival". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Andrew Pink (October 2015). "UCOpera's production of Amadis de Gaule" (PDF). UCL Chamber Music Club Newsletter. No. 5. p. 9. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- Sources
- Christiansen, Rupert, "South Seas romp for desert island Dick"[dead link] (review of Offenbach's Whittington), The Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
- Elleson, Ruth, "Bloch's Macbeth" (review), Opera Today, 30 March 2009.
- Hall, George "Fiesque" (review), The Guardian, 12 March 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- Kimberley, Nick, "Epic on a human scale"[dead link] (review of Sallinen's Kullervo), The Independent, 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, "Classical Music", The Independent, 24 March 1995
- University College Opera, Company history (official website)
External links
edit- University College Opera official website
- The Bloomsbury Theatre, the main venue for UCOpera performances
- UCOpera Photo Gallery