Most Victorian English Opera was composed and performed in Britain but it was also performed (and occasionally
composed) elsewhere, primarily in other English speaking countries but also in continental Europe, although
translated into the relevant language.
A big difference between these other countries and Britain was that there were no rigid demarcations, at least
for much of the century, between English opera, non-English opera given in English and opera sung in its native or,
at least, a non English, language (usually Italian). The emphasis was on staging whatever operas would appeal
to the audience with impresarios and company managers in the position of having an opera's track record in
Europe as a guide. Thus English opera might well be just part of a company's repertoire for a particular season
or tour and its history in these countries is intertwined with that of opera generally. However, as in Britain,
these countries sometimes felt that both native composers and performers were discriminated against in favour of
those from overseas.
Ireland
North America
Australia
New Zealand
Other countries of the old British Empire
Continental Europe
Ireland
The 18th century had seen a growth in musical activity, including some native opera, in Ireland but the Union
with Britain in 1808 led to the declining social and political significance of Dublin, which became just part of
the touring circuit along with the large English cities. Despite this, it retained sufficient importance
that, on occasion, one off events were mounted there, e.g. Balfe appeared in The Siege of Rochelle there in 1839,
his only appearance outside London in the opera. Many performers, musicians and composers came from Ireland but, in
looking for greater opportunities, they often gravitated to London or overseas. A clutch of major English opera
composers came from Ireland:- Balfe, O'Rourke, Wallace and Stanford while Sullivan had Irish parentage,
although born in England. However, these composers wrote in an English or continental style and there was no
suggestion of building an authentic Irish opera. The reasons for this are complex and part of the general failure
to establish a distinctive art music in Ireland that has been discussed in detail by Harry White, amongst
others.
Books and articles that discuss various aspects of this history include:-
Boydell, Brian, (ed.)., Four centuries of Music in Ireland. (London: British
Broadcasting Company, 1979).
Gillen, Gerald and Harry White,(eds.). Music and Irish Cultural History. Irish Musical
Studies, Vol. 3 (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1995).
Klein, Axel. "Stage Irish, or the National in Irish Opera, 1780-1925". The
Opera Quarterly, (Vol. 21, No.1, 2005), pp 27-67.
Levey, R.M. and J. O'Rorke. Annals of the Theatre Royal, 1821-1880. (Dublin:
Joseph Dollard,1880).
Murphy, Michael and Harry White, (eds.). Musical Constructions of Nationalism: Essays
on the History and Ideology of European Musical Culture, 1800-1940 (Cork: Cork University Press, 2001).
White, Harry . The Keeper's Recital: Music and Cultural History in Ireland,
1770-1970 (Cork: Cork University Press and Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998).
Useful websites include:
A narrative history of 19th century music in Ireland at Basil Walsh's Irish
Classical Music Pioneers.
Some of White's themes from his book can be found in his article, "The
Preservation of Music and Irish Cultural History", International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of
Music, Volume 27, No. 2 (December,1996), pp. 123-138.
North America
Early opera performances were largely driven by visiting singers and players from Europe and concentrated in the
cities of the eastern seaboard, primarily New York. Such tours continued to play a large part throughout the
century. However, gradually, permanent opera houses and companies were created and, although still dependent
on European personnel, indigenous talent started to emerge, some of whom appeared in Europe. At the beginning
of the 19th century, operas were largely sung in English, irrespective of their original language but this
changed during the course of the century and, increasingly, operas were given in their native language or sometimes
in Italian, even if that was not the original language. Books relating specifically to the U.S. experience in the
1834-1866 period can be found at https://www.englishromanticopera.org/books.htm.
Books that discuss various aspects of the later history include:-
Brown, T. Allston, A History of the New York Stage (3 volumes), (New York: Dodd,
Mead and Company, 1903). Available online at https://archive.org/details/ahistorynewyork01browgoog
[accessed on March 11, 2014].
Dizikes, John, Opera in America. (New Haven, USA: Yale University Press,
1993).
Kirk, Elise Kuhl, American Opera. (Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois
Press, 2001).
Lawrence, Vera Brodsky, Strong on Music, Volumes 1-3. (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1988 and Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
This is a record of the New York music scene in the days on George Templeton Strong (1836-1875) based around his
diaries.
Martin, George, Verdi at the Golden Gate: Opera and San Francisco in the gold rush
days. (Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1993).
Ottenberg, June C., Opera Odyssey: Toward a History of Opera in Nineteenth-Century
America (Westport, USA: Greenwood Press, 1994).
Preston, Katherine K., "Between the Cracks: The Performance of English-Language Opera
in Late Nineteenth-Century America". American Music, Vol. 21, No. 3, Nineteenth-Century Special Issue
(Autumn, 2003), pp. 349-374
Preston, Katherine K., Opera for the People: English-Language Opera and Women Managers
in Late 19th- Century America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017).
A list of American operas including those from the 19th century can be found at http://usopera.com/operas/index.html
Australia
Regular theatre began in Sydney in the 1830's and gradually spread to other cities. Some opera was
performed and there were occasional travelling companies but it was not until William S. Lyster set up the first of
his companies in 1861 that opera became a regular occurrence in Australia. He continued in business for the next 20
years, after which the J.C. Williamson company became pre-eminent, particularly with its Gilbert and Sullivan
productions. Although on a smaller scale than North America, Australian performers began to appear and to travel to
Europe towards the end of the century and Australian operas started to be composed.
Books on the subject include:
Davis, Richard. Anna Bishop: The Adventures of an Intrepid Prima Donna. (Sydney:
Currency Press Pty., 1997).
Gyger, Alison. Opera for the Antipodes: Opera in Australia 1881-1939. (Sydney:
Currency Press Pty Ltd., 1990).
Gyger, Alison. Civilising the colonies: pioneering opera in Australia. (Sydney:
Pellinor Pty Ltd.,1999).
Love, Harold. The Golden Age of Australian Opera. (Woollahra, NSW:: Currency Press
Pty. Ltd., 1981) - a history of the Lyster company.
Skinner, Graeme. Towards a general history of Australian Musical composition.
(Ph.D. thesis, University of Sydney, 2011) includes a discussion of music in early colonial Australia. It is
available at https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/7264
Wood, Elizabeth. Australian Opera, 1842-1970: A History of Australian Opera with
Descriptive Catalogues. (Ph.D. thesis, The University of Adelaide, 1979). It is available at http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/74997
Useful websites include:
Down under in the 19th century - http://www.oocities.org/melbear.geo/century1.htm - gives a
brief history of opera in Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately it is an archive copy so that the photographs
are missing. The original no longer seems extant.
The Australian Variety Theatre Archive (1850 - 1930) - http://ozvta.com/ includes articles on works, performers and managers ..
The Trove web site http://trove.nla.gov.au/ is a
good resource for newspaper reports as well as other resources.
Graeme Skinner's AustralHarmony website http://sydney.edu.au/paradisec/australharmony/ includes
considerable information on music of this era in Australia.
New Zealand
New Zealand tended to depend on companies from Australia or who had visited Australia and references can be
found in the Australian material above. Specific books that include material on 19th century opera in New Zealand
include:-
Simpson, Adrienne. The greatest ornaments of their profession: The New Zealand tours by
the Simonsen Opera Companies, 1876-1889 (Canterbury: University of Canterbury, 1993).
Simpson, Adrienne. Opera's Farthest Frontier: A History of Professional Opera in
New Zealand. (Auckland: Reed, 1996).
Simpson, Adrienne. Opera in New Zealand: Aspects of History and Performance
(Wellington: Witham Press, 1990)
Useful websites include:
Down under in the 19th century - http://www.oocities.org/melbear.geo/century1.htm - gives a
brief history of opera in Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately it is an archive copy so that the photographs
are missing. The original no longer seems extant.
Other countries of the old British Empire
Other countries of the old British empire occasionally were visited by travelling companies but this history
does not seem to have been investigated in any detailed way.
Continental Europe
Several English operas were translated and performed in various European countries, including Austria, Germany
and France. Given the difficulties in getting a London premiere, several composers towards the end of the century,
notably Charles Villiers Stanford, Isodore de Lara and Ethyl Smyth, concentrated on getting a continental
performance, which, they hoped, would then encourage a company to mount a British one, e.g. Stanford's
Savonarola (1884) received its first performance (translated into German) in Hamburg and was then
performed at Covent Garden around 3 months later, although also in German.
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