Lyric Opera Company

The Lyric Opera Company was a professional opera company, led by messrs Arturo Bonamici and Edgar Perkins.

Also known simply as The Lyric Company.

Members of the company included Miss Leonara Braham (from the London Savoy Theatre) and Grant Fallowes, and in 1894-5 Ancarina Massimimi. The company toured South Africa in 1893-4, giving performances of excellent standard.

They performed the opera Dorothy (Stephenson and Cellier) at the opening of the Cape Town Opera House, 31 August 1893, and would over their period in the country put on such standard operatic works as Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), La Favorita (Donizetti), Cavalleria Rusticana (Rossini), The Barber of Seville (Beaumarchais/Rossini), Carmen (Bizet), Rigoletto (Verdi), La Gioconda (Ponchielli) and Ernani (Verdi).

Other works performed by them included La Cigale (Meilhac and Halevy), The Old Guard (Boucicault)., La Mascotte (Audran, Duru and Chivot ), Maritana (), Haddon Hall (Grundy and Sullivan), Rip van Winkle, Iolanthe, The Mikado and Princess Ida.

Sources

Jill Fletcher, 1994

Return to

Return to South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page