ONE 100 years after the great tenor Joseph O’Mara’s Travelling Opera Company performed in Limerick, this city is about to stage its first operatic production since. The European Opera Centre, an EU funded training and performance arena, has partnered with UCH in the teeth of international oppostion for the creation of Rameau’s opera ‘Dardanus’.
Rehearsals began in Plassey this Monday June 27 with a cast of nine European young opera professionals. ‘Dardanus’ will be staged in full over two nights at the concert hall later this month, on Wednesday July 20 and again on Friday 22 with the most pleasing ticket price of just €20.
The rainmaker for this Limerick-EU collabration is Mr David Collopy, director of UCH, who clobbered opposition from Liverpool and Lyons in France for the first ever full staging of Rameau’s work. A version did appear in Paris in 1739 at the Academie Royale de Musique but five years later, Rameau wrote in effect an entirely new opera of simpler dynamic and greater attention to the drama of feelings and conflict.
Some attention has been paid to it over the centuries, but a runner it ain’t – to date. True to the craziness of this music genre, expect a tale of kings, marriagable princess and her star-crossed lover, the eponymous lover.
“Our production here at UCH is a new edition, made from what were bits and scraps of the original score that were put together by a musicologist, Nicholas André,” explains David Collopy. “The overall director is Larent Pilot and the concert hall is producer. This is the first professional opera production to be created in Limerick since the glory days of Joseph O’Mara and it is like Limerick is coming around full circle again to its era of opera tradition. ‘Dardanus’ is part of what were are trying to do here at the concert hall, what we want to achieve, putting Limerick a little bit more on the map as a producer”.
After Limerick, Rameau’s long forgotten work will tour to Britain, the continent and of course, its place of origin, France.
This show is a ‘biggie’ and hopefully, will be a ‘hottie’. David speaks of cast members selected from seven European countries, each a career professional and now working under Bernard Rozet. The 30 strong orchestra arrives in a fortnight and orchestra and of course, cast will be fully costumed for this crescendo of an opera premiere at 8pm on Wednesday 20, Friday 22 at our fine concert hall.
