John Lewis Opera
The John Lewis Music Society is an amateur society organised by employees ('partners') of the John Lewis Partnership retail business. A major part of the Society's activities from 1947 until 1991 was the production each year of an opera.[1] [2] The annual John Lewis Operas became notable for the rare and unusual works that were chosen,[3] and merited an entry in the 1964 and 1979 editions of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera.[3]
The Society gave the first stage performances in England of a number of works. The first of these was Dvořák’s Rusalka in 1950, and the last was Tutti in Maschera by Carlo Pedrotti in 1991.[1] These performances allowed audiences to see operas, performed to a high artistic standard, that were not in the repertoire of the country's professional companies.[1] [2] The Times commented in 1950: "It is left to amateurs to stage for us those operas by composers however eminent which do not get into the international repertory".[4]
The early performances took place in the restaurant of the Peter Jones department store in Sloane Square, but in 1960 they moved to an auditorium in the rebuilt John Lewis store in Oxford Street.[1] [2] To inaugurate the venue the society had organised a competition in 1957 for a newly-written full-length opera suitable for an amateur production.[5] [6] The winner was The Tunnel by Hugo Cole, and the piece was given its premiere in the new auditorium in 1960.[7]
The Oxford St. store was the venue for productions until 1988, when the auditorium was closed. Performances were subsequently given in 1989[8] and 1991[9] at the Britten Theatre of the Royal College of Music, but then ceased.[1]
List of productions
| Year | Opera | Composer | Conductor | Producer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | The Magic Flute | Mozart | John Foster | Ludovic Stewart | |
| 1948 | The Bartered Bride | Smetana | Ian Parrott | Ludovic Stewart | |
| 1949 | The Marriage of Figaro | Mozart | Geoffrey Corbett | Sumner Austin | |
| 1950 | Rusalka | Dvořák | Geoffrey Corbett | Sumner Austin | |
| 1951 | Sir John in Love | Vaughan-Williams | Geoffrey Corbett | Powell Lloyd | |
| 1952 | The Inquisitive Women | Wolf-Ferrari | Geoffrey Corbett | Powell Lloyd | |
| 1953 | The Beggar's Opera | Gay | Thomas Evans | Harvey Unna | |
| 1954 | Abu Hassan and | Weber | Denys Darlow | Powell Lloyd | |
| The Black Spider | Sutermeister | ||||
| 1955 | La Finta Giardiniera (one-act version) and | Mozart | Denys Darlow | Powell Lloyd | |
| Le Villi (two-act version) | Puccini | ||||
| 1956 | The Kiss | Smetana | Denys Darlow | Powell Lloyd | |
| 1957 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Nicolai | Colin Davis | Anthony Besch | |
| 1958 | La Dame Blanche | Boieldieu | Bryan Balkwill | Anthony Besch | |
| 1959 | Fortunio's Song and | Offenbach | Brian Priestman | Anthony Besch | |
| Don Procopio | Bizet | ||||
| 1960 | The Tunnel | Hugo Cole | James Robertson | Anthony Besch | |
| 1961 | La Périchole | Offenbach | James Robertson | Anthony Besch | |
| 1962 | The Three Pintos | Weber/Mahler | David Lloyd-Jones | John Cox | |
| 1963 | The Peasant a Rogue | Dvořák | David Lloyd-Jones | John Cox | |
| 1964 | L'Arlésienne | Daudet/Bizet | James Robertson | Anthony Besch | |
| 1965 | Bluebeard | Offenbach | James Robertson | Anthony Besch | |
| 1966 | The Poacher | Lortzing | James Robertson | Anthony Besch | |
| 1967 | The Travelling Companion | Stanford | James Robertson | Michael Geliot | |
| 1968 | Susannah | Floyd | James Robertson | Michael Geliot | |
| 1969 | The Grand-Duchess of Gérolstein | Offenbach | James Robertson | Michael Geliot | |
| 1970 | L'Etoile | Chabrier | James Robertson | Dennis Maunder | |
| 1971 | Shamus O'Brien | Stanford | James Robertson | Dennis Maunder | |
| 1972 | La Fille de Madame Angot | Lecocq | James Robertson | Dennis Maunder | |
| 1973 | Undine | Lortzing | James Robertson & Fraser Goulding (1 perf.) | Dennis Maunder | |
| 1974 | Véronique | Messager | James Robertson & Fraser Goulding (1 perf.) | Dennis Maunder | |
| 1975 | no production | ||||
| 1976 | The Vampire | Marschner | James Robertson & Clive Wearing (1 perf.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1977 | Love at the Inn | Quilter | James Robertson & Clive Wearing (1 perf.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1978 | Les Cloches de Corneville | Planquette | James Robertson & Clive Wearing (1 perf.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1979 | Zar und Zimmermann | Lortzing | James Robertson & Clive Wearing (1 perf.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1980 | Geneviève de Brabant | Offenbach | James Robertson & Derek Carden (1 perf.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1981 | If I were King | Adam | Derek Carden | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1982 | Tantivy Towers | T F Dunhill | James Robertson & Derek Carden (1 perf.) | Chris de Souza | |
| 1983 | The Haunted Manor | Moniuszko | James Robertson & Derek Carden (1 perf.) | Chris de Souza | |
| 1984 | William Tell | Grétry | Derek Carden | Chris de Souza | |
| 1985 | Le Pré-aux-Clercs | Hérold | James Robertson & Derek Carden (2 perfs.) | Malcolm Hunter | |
| 1986 | Fatinitza | Suppé | James Robertson & Derek Carden (2 perfs.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1987 | The Siege of Rochelle | Balfe | Derek Carden | Chris Newell | |
| 1988 | Giroflé-Girofla | Lecocq | Derek Carden | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1989 | The Beggar Student | Millöcker | Derek Carden & Alistair Young (1 perf.) | Tom Hawkes | |
| 1990 | no production | ||||
| 1991 | Tutti in Maschera | Pedrotti | Derek Carden & John Gibbons (1 perf.) | Vernon Mound |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Terry Jenkins: "Never knowingly undersung", Opera, Vol. 73, No. 10 (October 2022), pp. 1219-22.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Caroline Dilke: "The Partnership's Opera", The JLP Gazette, 26 October 1985, pp. 910-914.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harold D Rosenthal: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Oxford, OUP, 1979), p. 249.
- ↑ The Times, 12 May 1950, p. 8.
- ↑ Daily Mail, 10 December 1957, p. 3.
- ↑ The Times, 11 December 1957, p. 3.
- ↑ The Times, 25 October 1960, p. 14.
- ↑ Arthur Jacobs: "The Beggar Student", Opera, Vol. 40, No. 7 (July 1989). pp. 876-7.
- ↑ Julian Budden: "Tutti in Maschera", Opera, Vol. 42, No. 7 (July 1991). pp. 848-9.
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