Joseph O'Mara

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Joseph O'Mara (1911)

Joseph O'Mara (born  July 16, 1864 in Limerick , †  August 5, 1927 in Dublin ) was an Irish opera singer ( tenor ) and founder of the O'Mara Opera Company . He was considered an outstanding interpreter of Wagner's operas, with the title role of Lohengrin being one of his star roles. Both as a singer and as a producer, he was committed to the revival of traditional Irish music and operas based on it.

Life

Joseph O'Mara was born the second youngest of 13 children into a well-to-do family belonging to the descendants of the Ó Meára dynasty of Toomevara, northeast of Limerick in northern County Tipperary . The family was one of the few remaining Catholic landowners in the region. Although the property was confiscated around 1690, it was possible to regain part of the property with reference to the 1691 Treaty of Limerick . His father, James O'Mara, left Toomevara around 1835, worked in a textile factory in Clonmel , where he met Hanora Foley, the daughter of the factory owner, whom he married and with whom he went to Limerick, where he soon became the O'Mara's Bacon Factory , which flourished for generations.

In Limerick, Joseph O'Mara first attended Crescent College , a Jesuit- run school, where he received singing lessons from John F. Murray. In addition, he sang in the choir of St. Michael's Church . After graduating from school and the early death of his mother, which traumatized him, he was hired on a liner from Dundee to Calcutta . Disappointed with the seafaring, he returned home and accepted his father's offer to work in his company. He resumed work in the church choir, took singing lessons with Theo Gmür in Cork and sang in the cathedral choir from 1886 to 1888 . He applied spontaneously and without his father's knowledge to George Grove 's Royal College of Music , but this failed due to the lack of funding from his father. However, this gave him the courage to go to Milan in 1889 with the consent of his father , where he was taught by Moretti for two years.

Joseph O'Mara then returned to Limerick, heard that Richard D'Oyly Carte was preparing a new opera in London, applied there and was awarded the title role in Arthur Sullivan's new opera Ivanhoe, which was awarded to Ben Davies . O'Mara's operatic debut in this role on February 4, 1891 at the Royal English Opera House in Covent Garden was so successful that from then on the two shared the role equally. This earned him recognition and other early engagements. Regardless of this, O'Mara decided to return to Milan to take lessons from Perini.

Arie Ochone, when I used to be young, composed especially for James O'Mara by Charles Stanford . This 1901 recording is one of the few recorded recordings made by O'Mara.

In London, the Italian opera and Richard Wagner became very popular during this time through the impresario Augustus Harris (1852-1896), who had two opera houses and high-ranking singers. In 1893 O'Mara was invited by him and engaged for the Cavalleria rusticana , Pagliacci and Faust . When the ensemble was on tour, roles in Carmen , Lohengrin and Meistersinger were added. In October 1893, O'Mara had the first opportunity to perform in front of a home audience when the company performed at Dublin's Gaiety Theater . When O'Mara was supposed to take on the role of the vile traitor Mike Murphy in Charles Stanford's new romantic-comic opera Shamus O'Brien , the musical part of the role seemed too small, so Stanford wrote the aria Ochone, when I used to especially for him be young composed. The opera was unusual because it did not follow the Italian models, but, like Dvořák and Smetana before, it took up folkloric themes and musical elements. It was very brave to combine the Irish national theme of the rebellion of 1798 with elements of Irish folk and to present this to the London audience. The first performance on March 2, 1896 was a spectacular success despite this challenge; The fiftieth performance took place in May of the same year. The opera started just as successfully on January 5, 1897 at the Broadway Theater in New York , with the voice and the range of theatrical variations of O'Mara being particularly emphasized in the criticism. There were about fifty performances before the ensemble returned to London and began a tour that ended in Ireland in October 1897. No other of Stanford's operatic works has had such success.

In July 1902, O'Mara was accepted into the ensemble founded by Charles Manner and Fanny Moody as the lead tenor. He took over u. a. the role of Firmiano in the English premiere of Emilio Pizzis Rosalba and Manrico in the Troubadour and sang Faust again. In the following year O'Mara took on the role of Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and in the romantic opera The Lily of Killarney by Jules Benedict the role of Myles na Coppaleen. When Charles Manners offered a prize of £ 250 for the best English opera, Colin McAlpin won it with The Cross and the Crescent , which premiered on September 22, 1903 in Covent Garden with O'Mara in the role of Constantine.

Title page of a music book with the songs from Peggy Machree with a photo of Joseph O'Mara, who had played the leading role from 1908.

Dublin-based composer Michelle Esposito was also known for his works that took up traditional Irish music. These included the dramatic cantata Deirdre , the operetta The Postbag and the popular opera The Tinker and the Fairy in one act. Esposito's music, along with other songs by Clarence Lucas, formed the basis for that by Elizabeth Curtis O'Sullivan (under the pseudonym Patrick Bidwell) written musical Peggy Machree , which premiered on December 27, 1904 in London with her husband Denis O'Sullivan as first tenor. Similar to Shamus O'Brien before , there was an American tour with the first performance on January 5th in Chicago . After Denis O'Sullivan died unexpectedly just a few weeks later in Columbus , Ohio, O'Mara was won as his successor to continue the tour. O'Mara arrived in New York in October after a series of farewell concerts in Ireland and upon arrival declared that his concern was to promote Irish music by reviving ancient Gaelic ballads. He said:

“There is a new school of Irish music now beginning to appear which promises well. […] An artist who can sing an Irish song well can sing anything. There is no audience so blasé that it will not enjoy a good Irish song well sung. The play in which I am to appear is really a dramatic vehicle for the introduction of a large number of Irish songs. Signor Esposito has arranged a number of beautiful old Irish melodies for me. My American tour, I hope, will refresh the love of the beauties of the ancient Irish airs. "

“A new school of Irish music is beginning to emerge which is very promising. [...] An artist who can sing an Irish song well can sing anything. There is no audience so jaded that they cannot enjoy a good Irish song that is sung well. The musical I'll be in is actually a dramaturgical tool for introducing a variety of Irish songs. Signor Esposito arranged some beautiful old Irish melodies for me. My American tour, I hope, will revive the love of the beauties of old Irish sages. "

- Joseph O'Mara

The tour began in Philadelphia on November 9th and hit Broadway on December 21st, 1908, where it received critical acclaim.

On his return to London he joined the Thomas Beecham Opera Company in 1910 and took on the role of Florestan in Fidelio , Faust in Gounod, José in Carmen and Mike Murphy in Shamus O'Brien .

In 1912 he founded his own company, the O'Mara Grand Opera Company , of which he was the first tenor and star. Numerous Irish singers were part of the troupe, including a. tenor Henry O'Dempsey, soprano Kathleen McCully, mezzo-soprano Florence Cahill and baritone John Browne. One of the first performances was in Kingstown , south of Dublin. The following year there was the first major opera season in Dublin's Gaiety Theater on October 20 , which opened with Les Huguenots with O'Mara in the role of Raoul de Nangis. It followed u. a. Faust and Lohengrin . This was followed by tours of English cities such as Birmingham with Maritana by William Vincent Wallace , the Troubadour , the opera The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe and the Wagner operas Tannhäuser and Lohengrin , at the Bootle Metropole Theater in Liverpool with Carmen and at the Gaiety Theater in Manchester a . a. with La Juive and Lily of Killarney . From 1919 onwards, O'Mara's opera company had two seasons each year, with four weeks each in February and June. Some operas were also performed for the first time in Ireland, such as Puccini's Manon Lescaut .

The Irish independence in 1921 led to the revival of the Irish language , a concern that the already since 1893 Conradh na Gaeilge was promoted. One of the first new operas ( opera nuadh ) to emerge after independence was Shruth na Maoile, composed by Geoffrey M. Palmer with a libretto by Tomás Ó Ceallaigh, released in July 1923 by the O'Mara Opera Company at the Gaiety Theater in Dublin premiered. The plot of the opera follows the Irish legend Oidheadh ​​Chlainne Lir in two acts and takes up traditional Irish tunes, most of which were taken from the collection of George Petrie and Patrick Weston Joyce , such as Kitty, Will You Marry Me in the second act. Three years later in August 1924, O'Mara organized a series of Irish operas. After a long break, Shamus O'Brien could be performed again after the composer's death. Stanford had recently not allowed this, apparently to avoid a nationalist context for his opera. The company was not destined to succeed; the Irish Times saw it as out of time. There was also Shruth na Maoile and the new opera Shaun the Post by the Dublin composer Harold Robert White , which premiered on August 15 at the Dublin Theater Royal . The opera is based on the drama Arragh-na-Pogue by Dion Boucicault , which, like Shamus O'Brien, is set in the time of the Irish rebellion of 1798. The Irish Times hailed the performance as the biggest music event in Dublin for years.

On March 8, 1926, O'Mara ended his career with a final appearance in the title role of Lohengrin . The tenor Cynlaid Gibbs took over the management of the opera company, which existed until 1934.

Honors

  • Freedom of the City of Limerick on October 2, 1908.

literature

  • Obituary . In: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . tape 68 , no. 1015 , September 1, 1927, pp. 846 , JSTOR : 915353 .
  • Limerick tenor who won world fame . Centenary of birth of Joseph O'Mara. In: Limerick Chronicle . July 9, 1966, p. 5 ( limerickcity.ie [PDF]).
  • Kevin Hannan: The Theater in Limerick . In: North Munster Antiquarian Journal . tape XXXII , 1990, pp. 75-82 .
  • O'Mara, Joseph . In: Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens (Hrsg.): Großes Sängerlexikon . tape 4 . Walter de Gruyter, 2004, p. 3443–3444 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  • Morgan McCloskey: O'Maras of Limerick and their overseas businesses . In: The Old Limerick Journal . No. 37 , 2001, p. 10-12 ( limerickcity.ie [PDF]).
  • Michael Murphy: O'Mara, Joseph . In: Harry White and Barra Boydell (Eds.): The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland . tape 2 . University College Dublin Press, Dublin 2013, ISBN 978-1-906359-78-2 , pp. 783 .
  • Anthony Riordan: Joseph O'Mara . Operatic tenor. In: Old Limerick Journal . No. 29 , 1992, pp. 31-32 ( limerickcity.ie [PDF]).
  • Joseph J. Ryan: Opera in Ireland before 1925 . In: Gareth Cox and Axel Klein (eds.): Irish Music in the Twentieth Century . Four Courts Press, Dublin 2003, ISBN 1-85182-647-5 , pp. 39-55 .
  • Gus Smith: Irish Stars of the Opera . Madison Publishers, Dublin 1994, ISBN 1-870862-02-3 , Joseph O'Mara: The 'Irish Caruso', pp. 1–11 ( limerickcity.ie [PDF]).

Web links

Commons : Joseph O'Mara  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Michael Murphy 2013, p. 783; Gus Smith 1994, p. 1; Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens 2004, p. 3443; Catalog entry in the National Library of Ireland ; matches the age on the tombstone ; Item 12 in James O'Mara (formerly O'Meara). Retrieved June 4, 2016 . There are different information. In its obituary, the Musical Times mentions July 10, 1865; the Limerick Chronicle mentions July 9, 1966 for the assumed 100th anniversary of July 10, 1866; Kevin Hannan assumes July 16, 1866; Rioardan also mentions 1866 in the Old Limerick Journal. The Oxford Index mentions 1861; Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens also mention that unnamed sources state 1861 as the year of birth. Michael Murphy confirms the existence of all these variants, but points out that the baptism can be proven in 1864.
  2. ^ Joseph O'Mara, Opera Tenor, Dies . Singer, Who Toured the United States in “Peggy Machree,” Dies in Dublin. In: New York Times . August 6, 1927, p. 13 (English, nytimes.com ). Death of Mr. Joseph O'Mara . In: The Irish Times . August 13, 1927, p.  4 ( irishtimes.com ).
  3. ↑ Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens 2004, p. 3443; A Great Operatic Artist . Death of Mr. Joseph O'Mara. In: The Irish Times . August 6, 1927, p. 7 ( irishtimes.com ).
  4. ↑ Michael Murphy 2013, p. 783.
  5. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 1.
  6. ↑ Anthony Riordan 1992, p. 31: "The O'Mara family can claim to have been one of the most distinguished of their time in Limerick and Munster".
  7. ↑ The Irish name of Toomevara is Tuaim Uí Mheára , translated hill or burial mound of the Ó Meára family. See Deirdre Flanagan and Laurence Flanagan : Irish Place Names . Gill & Macmillan, Dublin 1994, ISBN 0-7171-2066-X , pp. 157.259 .
  8. ^ Charles Chenevix Trench: Grace's Card . Irish Catholic Landlords 1690-1800. Mercier Press, Cork 1997, ISBN 1-85635-163-7 , pp. 160-161 .
  9. ↑ Morgan McCloskey 2001, p. 10, and James O'Mara (formerly O'Meara). Retrieved June 4, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, pp. 1-2; Anthony Riordan 1992, p. 31; Michael Murphy 2013, p. 783.
  11. ↑ Obituary in the Musical Times ; Michael Murphy 2013, p. 783.
  12. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, pp. 2-3; Obituary in the Musical Times ; Kevin Hannan 1990; Michael Murphy 2013, p. 783; Mr. Joseph O'Mara . In: The Times . August 6, 1927, p. 12 ( thetimes.co.uk ). Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens 2004, p. 3443 name Moratti as a teacher, with "a" instead of "e".
  13. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 3; Obituary in the Musical Times ; Anthony Riordan, p. 32.
  14. ↑ Sir Augustus Harris . In: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . tape 37 , no. 641 , 1896, pp. 461 , JSTOR : 3367892 . FGW: Opera under Sir Augustus Harris . In: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . tape 37 , no. 642 , 1896, pp. 521-523 , JSTOR : 3365907 . The two opera houses were Covent Garden and Drury Lane , see Mr. Joseph O'Mara . In: The Times . August 6, 1927, p. 12 ( thetimes.co.uk ).
  15. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, pp. 3-4; Obituary in the Musical Times ; for an assessment of the role see also William Mann: Shamus O'Brien . In: The Times . April 20, 1971, p. 10 ( thetimes.co.uk ).
  16. ^ Charles Villiers Stanford and Geo. H. Jessop: Shamus O'Brien . Boosey & Co. , S. 3 ( archive.org ). HF: London and Italian Irish . In: New York Times . March 8, 1896, p. 1 ( nytimes.com ). Quote from NYT: “Shamus O'Brien” at the Opera Comique had a better popular and critical reception this week than any other comic opera in London for years, and this despite the fact that Irish things are far from being the fashion here, and the singers, who are chiefly Irish, are praised on all sides for their admirable work. Music . In: New York Times . May 17, 1896, p. 11 ( nytimes.com ). William Mann: Shamus O'Brien . In: The Times . April 20, 1971, p. 10 ( thetimes.co.uk ). Quote from William Mann: "[...] Shamus O'Brien was successful in London well before the Irish Troubles came to an end."
  17. ↑ “Shamus O'Brien” Good . In: New York Times . January 6, 1897, p. 5 ( nytimes.com ). Quote: “Joseph O'Mara achieved a unique success. He was uproariously comic at times, and was pathetic and dramatic at other times. And mirabile dictu! he sang well, with a pretty tenor voice and a nice enunciation. "
  18. ↑ Jeremy Dibble: Charles Villers Stanford: Man and Musician . Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-19-816383-5 , pp. 275 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  19. ↑ Joseph J. Ryan 2003, p. 42.
  20. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, pp. 4-5; Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens 2004, p. 3443; London Correspondence . In: The Irish Times . July 16, 1902, p. 5 ( irishtimes.com ). English Opera at Covent Garden . In: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . tape  43 , no. 716 , 1902, pp. 678 , JSTOR : 3369644 . Opera at the Theater Royal . “Il Trovatore”. In: The Irish Times . January 17, 1903, p.  15 ( irishtimes.com ). Moody-Manners Opera Company . “Romeo and Juliet”. In: The Irish Times . April 22, 1903, p.  8 ( irishtimes.com ).
  21. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 5; English Opera and a New Opera . In: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . tape 44 , no. 728 , 1903, The Cross and the Crescent, pp. 673 , JSTOR : 903203 .
  22. ↑ Joseph R. Ryan 2003, p. 49.
  23. ↑ Jeremy Dibble: Michele Esposito . Field Day Publications, Dublin 2010, ISBN 978-0-946755-47-9 , pp. 188 ( limited preview in Google Book search). Irish Musical Play in London . In: New York Times . December 29, 1904 ( nytimes.com ). London Correspondence . In: The Irish Times . December 30, 1904, p.  5 ( irishtimes.com ).
  24. ^ "Peggy Machree" Produced . Denis O'Sullivan's Irish Comedy Is Well Received. January 6, 1908, p. 7 ( nytimes.com ).
  25. ↑ Denis O'Sullivan . In: New York Times . February 2, 1908, p. 9 . Guilbert Coming to Sing In Comedy . In: New York Times . July 25, 1908, p.  5 ( nytimes.com ).
  26. ^ Singer O'Mara Here With Peggy Machree . In: New York Times . August 18, 1908 ( nytimes.com ).
  27. ↑ Joseph O'Mara in “Peggy Machree” . In: New York Times . November 10, 1908, p. 9 ( nytimes.com ).
  28. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, pp. 5-6; "Peggy Machree" A Tuneful Comedy . In: New York Times . December 22, 1908, p. 9 ( nytimes.com ).
  29. ↑ Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens 2004, pp. 3443–3444.
  30. ↑ “Shamus O'Brien” Revived . In: The Irish Times . May 26, 1910, p. 7 ( irishtimes.com ).
  31. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 7.
  32. ↑ Arrangements for To-Day . In: The Irish Times . April 12, 1912, p. 6 ( irishtimes.com ).
  33. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 8; Gaiety Theater . The O'Mara Opera Company. In: The Irish Times . August 21, 1913 ( irishtimes.com ).
  34. ^ O'Mara Opera Company . In: The Irish Times . October 22, 1913, p. 8 ( irishtimes.com ).
  35. ^ O'Mara Opera Company . In: The Irish Times . October 25, 1913, p. 10 ( irishtimes.com ).
  36. ^ P. 190 in Music in the Provinces . In: The Musical Times . tape 55 , no. 853 , March 1, 1914, p. 189-195 , JSTOR : 906288 .
  37. ↑ p. 46 in Music in the Provinces . tape 56 , no. 863 , January 1, 1915, p. 42-49 , JSTOR : 909104 .
  38. ↑ p. 368 in: Music in the Provinces . In: The Musical Times . tape 56 , no. 868 , June 1, 1915, p. 365-369 , JSTOR : 910756 .
  39. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 8.
  40. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, p. 8; The O'Mara Opera Company . In: The Irish Times . February 25, 1919 ( irishtimes.com ).
  41. ↑ Joseph J. Ryan 2003, pp. 44-45; Gaiety Theater . 'An Irish Opera'. In: The Irish Times . July 26, 1923, p. 8 ( irishtimes.com ). The song Kitty, Will You Marry Me is listed under number 69: PW Joyce (Ed.): Old Irish Folk Music and Songs . The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Dublin 1909, p. 37 ( itma.ie ).
  42. ^ P. 957 in: Jeremy Dibble: Stanford, Sir Charles Villiers . In: Harry White and Barra Boydell (Eds.): The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland . tape 2 . University College Dublin Press, Dublin 2013, ISBN 978-1-906359-78-2 , pp. 955-958 .
  43. ↑ Joseph J. Ryan, pp. 46-47; Revival of Stanford's “Shamus O'Brien” . In: The Irish Times . August 12, 1924, p. 4 ( irishtimes.com ).
  44. ↑ Joseph J. Ryan, pp. 46-47; "Shaun the Post" . Mr. Harold White's Opera Produced. In: The Irish Times . August 16, 1924, p. 10 ( irishtimes.com ).
  45. ↑ Gus Smith 1994, pp. 10-11; Obituary in the Musical Times ; Michael Murphy 2013, p. 783; "Lohengrin" at the Gaiety . In: The Irish Times . March 9, 1926, p. 3 ( irishtimes.com ). Last appearance as Lohengrin . Mr. O'Mara Retiring From Opera. In: The Irish Times . March 9, 1926, p.  7 ( irishtimes.com ).
  46. ↑ Mr. Joseph O'Mara . Freedom of the City Presented. In: The Limerick Chronicle . October 3, 1908 ( limerickcity.ie [PDF]).
personal data
SURNAME O'Mara, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish opera singer (tenor) and founder of the O'Mara Opera Company
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH limerick
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1927
Place of death Dublin