Wagner in Australia: Productions of the Operas and Music Dramas in Sydney 1877-1989
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WAGNER IN AUSTRALIA: PRODUCTIONS OF THE OPERAS AND MUSIC DRAMAS IN SYDNEY 1877-1989 Presented to The Department of Music The University of New South Wales In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Music Merylyn Russell January 1990 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This major project was produced as a result of the co-operation of a number of people. I should to like thank members of the staff of the Dennis Wolanski Library, the Australian Broadcasting Commission Library, the Mitchell Library, Sydney, the Music Department and the Manuscript Departments of the National Library, Canberra and the Library of the Australian Opera. I should also like to thank Moffatt Oxenbould, the Artistic Director of the Australian Opera and my supervisor, Roger Covell, for their generous assistance. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Introduction .................................................................. vii 1 W.S. Lyster: A Nineteenth Century Impresario................ ! 2 The Great Imported Companies ....................................13 George Musgrove .....................................................14 The Melba/Williamson Season 1911 ............................18 Thomas Quinlan 1912-13 ........................................... 20 The Melba/Williamson Season 1928 ............................ 30 Sir Benjamin Fuller 1934-35.......................... ........... 32 Policies and Problems ............................................... 36 3 The First Australian Companies .................................. .43 4 The Australian Opera.................................................. 54 Performance Practice ............................................... 66 5 Conclusion ................................................................. 7 6 Bibliography................................................................... 83 iii ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the history of productions of the operas and music dramas of Richard Wagner in Sydney from 1877 to 1989. Specific areas of investigation included the change from the earlier practice of importing complete companies to the current policy of totally Australian-based companies, alterations over the years in performance practice both musically and in production of the works and in the choice of language used for those performances. In attempting to answer the above questions, investigation was centred on performance practice. This involved examining extant performing scores of Wagner's operas, any correspondence illuminating these areas, as well as programmes, early theatrical magazines, journals, articles in newspapers and reviews of the actual performances. Interviews also proved a source of information. It was concluded that the changes were governed by many influences. Orchestral standards fluctuated depending upon the size of the orchestra employed which was in turn dependent on the dimensions of the orchestral pit where performance took place, the calibre of the instrumentalists employed therein, and the actual instruments used. The availability of singers, conductors and producers was of great importance; whether local or overseas artists iv were employed and the standards achieved by these artists influenced standards of performances greatly. The language used in performance, whether English or German, has always been the subject of controversy. All the companies investigated had a quite sharply defined sense of mission. They were bringing the best possible performances of Wagner operas to Australian audiences. During the first forty years that this investigation spans, there was no local operatic (Wagnerian) tradition, hence the rise of the fully imported company. These companies had international reputations and brought with them to Australia a high standard of production, which was an inspiration to the local companies that followed. The last fifty or so years have seen the development of the totally Australian company. The operas seen by Sydney audiences were now performed by totally imported companies. They pursued a policy of "all-Australian", which was sometimes detrimental to performance standards. By the 1980s, Sydney audiences were able to enjoy Wagnerian opera of an international standard, yet which made full use of indigenous talent and creativity. V LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Chronological List of Productions of Wagner Operas in Sydney ................................................................... 80 2 List of Productions by Title ...................................................... 81 3 Chronological List of Concert Performances of Wagner Operas in Sydney....................................................... 82 vi INTRODUCTION In 1889 George Bernard Shaw said: Every fresh presentation of [Wagner's works] should be an original, artistic creation, and not an imitation of the last one ... Let the scene-painter paint the scenes he sees in the poem ... the conductor express with his orchestra what the score expresses to him... the true Wagner theatre is that in which this shall be done, though it stand on Primrose Hill or in California... 1 This paper traces the history of performances of Wagner opera in Sydney from 1877, (when the first production of a work by Wagner was given at the Victoria Theatre) to the present day (1989). It is important to recognise, however, that the first performance of any Wagner work in Australia was given in Melbourne in 1877. This production was later mounted in Sydney and because the problems of producing Wagner operas were already inherent and encapsulated in these first performances, it is with this presentation of Lohenrnn2 that this investigation begins. 10sborne, C. The World Theatre of Wagner. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 198 2, f ron tis piece. 2A11 works by Wagner are referred to by their German title, irrespective of whether or not they were so-called by the companies who produced them. vii CHAPTERl W.S. LYSTER: A NINETEENTH CENTURY IMPRESARIO This project examines the history of Wagner opera performances in Sydney. However, many of the productions mounted there were also seen in Melbourne and, indeed, the earlier imported companies made a practice of opening their seasons in that city. Such was the case with the first staged production of Wagner opera; in this case Lohengrin. Melbourne had already seen a concert performance of Tannhauser in 1874, given by the Royal Philharmonic Society.3 There are also references to presentations of Tannhauser and Lohengrin in 1872 but information about these performances is sparse and unreliable. Therefore the first well-documented production of a staged Wagner opera in Australia can be accredited to William Saurin Lyster: One of the many remarkable Irishmen thrown up by the country, which in the nineteenth century produced a chain of celebrities stretching from Moore and Balfe to Shaw and Wilde. He was born in Dublin in 1827 ... and began his career as a typical adventurer by shipping on a whaler at the age of thirteen. 4 3cove11, R. Australia's Musjc. Melbourne: 1967, p.19. 4 Mackenzie, B &F. Singers of Australia from Melba to Sutherland. Melbourne: 1967, p.265. 1 He was the opera impresario 'par excellence' and worked in Australia from 1861 to his death in 1880. It was he who laid the foundations for the long tradition of opera in Australia, even though he operated in many cases in halls without proper stages, scenery or costumes. It was he too, who struggled so hard over many years to establish a tradition of opera performance in Australia. From this time on there could be said to be a sense of mission among the impresarios; to bring not only opera, but drama and concerts of world-class standard as well to the people of Australia. The company he used in Lohengrin was imported. As there was understandably no tradition of staging Wagner in Australia at this time and therefore, no experienced singers, instrumentalists or producers, he could hardly have done otherwise. He also brought with him higher standards than had hitherto been reached in dramatic production in Australia, standards which were to be an example and an inspiration for local theatre producers in the future. Nevertheless, this use of an overseas company set the pattern for the next sixty years for during that period, Australia relied almost totally on imported opera companies, not only for Wagner but for all opera. The advent of the Lyster Opera company was considered an important event for Melbourne,as demonstrated in a full-page pictorial feature in the magazine Australian Sketches in 1877. The entire centre of the page is devoted to a scene from Lohengrin, while round the perimeter is shown,among other noteworthy and forthcoming events, a scene from Alru!, a Revivalist meeting, a Masonic ball and an advertisement for the Royal Poultry Show. Perhaps this reflects the attitude, at least in Australia in 1877, that 2 opera was to be considered a natural form of entertainment and that it had not yet attained its rather formidable reputation as an elitist pastime. Not only had Lyster been masterminding productions of operas, he had also been involved with plays. 1877 saw presentations by him of Les Danicheff by Peter Korvin-Krukovskoi and Alexandre Dumas fils, Our American Cousin, Around the World in Eighty Days adapted by Lyster himself, as well as Three Millions of Money and Er.e,d. These performances took place at the Melbourne Opera House, while the current Italian Opera season was playing at the Theatre Royal. In 1874, Melbourne had seen The Bohemian Girl, Fra Diavolo. The Lily of Killarney