University College Opera


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 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's Fiesque, at the Bloomsbury Theatre. 2009 saw another British première, Ernest Bloch's Macbeth. UCOpera extended its list of British premières by staging Gounod's Polyeucte at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2018, and Smetana's Czech national opera, Libuše in 2019.

History

The brainchild of the conductor Anthony Addison,, 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, Bizet's Don Procopio and Lortzing's Der Wildschütz. 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 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, Robert Lloyd, Jonathan Summers, and Julian Gavin. The company's productions also became more ambitious with a series of UK and world premieres including: Wagner's Das Liebesverbot ; Haydn's Die Feuersbrunst ; Erkel's Bánk bán ; and Verdi's Alzira.
A highlight for the company under the directorship of David Drummond was UCOpera's world premiere 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. Drummond's last performance as the company's Director coincided with its 50th anniversary, the 2001 UK premiere of Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo.
Under the directorship of Charles Peebles UCOpera has produced British premieres of Hahn's Ciboulette, Dvorak'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.

Productions 2001 to 2019

Productions 1951 to 2000

YearProductionComposer
1951Dido and AeneasPurcell
1951Bastien and BastienneMozart
1952Merry Wives of WindsorNicolai
1953La Clemenza di TitoMozart
1954L'elisir d'amoreDonizetti
1955Don ProcopioBizet
1955Bastien and BastienneMozart
1956Il Turco in ItaliaRossini
1957The Devil and KateDvořák
1958Der WildschutzLortzing
1959The Barber of BaghdadCornelius
1960Beatrice and BenedictBerlioz
1961Halka*Moniuszko
1962LodoïskaCherubini
1963I due FoscariVerdi
1964Sorochyntsi FairMussorgsky
1965Das Liebesverbot*Wagner
1966Die Feuersbrunst*Haydn
1967PoliutoDonizetti
1967Le cadi dupéGluck
1967Livietta e TracolloPergolesi
1967:de:Die Flut |The TideBlacher
1968Bánk Bán*Erkel
1969Leonore**Beethoven
1970Alzira*Verdi
1971ArmideGluck
1972Hans HeilingMarschner
1973StiffelioVerdi
1974ClytemnestraWishart
1975EuryantheWeber
1976Macbeth *Verdi
1977Saul and David*Nielsen
1978The Maid of Orleans*Tchaikovsky
1979AttilaVerdi
1980The Duenna*Prokofiev
1981HérodiadeMassenet
1982Oberto*Verdi
1983Gwendoline*Chabrier
1984FaustSpohr
1985Le VilliPuccini
1985EdgarPuccini
1986Die Loreley*Bruch
1987The Devil's Wall*Smetana
1988Il CorsaroVerdi
1989Giovanna d'ArcoVerdi
1990Un Giorno di RegnoVerdi
1991LakméDelibes
1992Le Roi d'YsLalo
1993Ruslan and LudmilaGlinka
1994Hulda**Franck
1995La WallyCatalani
1996The Ballad of Baby Doe**Moore
1997The King and the Marshal*Heise
1998MignonThomas
1999MazeppaTchaikovsky
2000The Jewels of the MadonnaWolf-Ferrari