Opera Society of South Africa
The Opera Society of South Africa, founded in 1956.
Contents
Purpose
The aim of the society was “to strive for the development of opera and related art forms, especially in Afrikaans”, aiming to popularise opera among white Afrikaans-speakers. Operas were performed in the original language, as well as in Afrikaans. In this way, the Opera Society aimed to establish an “own opera art form” and give local singers opportunities to perform. At the time, there had been great interest from the Afrikaans public in performances in Afrikaans.
Productions
The Opera Society committed to producing at least one opera in Afrikaans each year. Among the translated works were Puccini’s La bohème and Madama Butterfly, Mozart’s Cosí fan tutti and Die Entfürung aus dem Serail, and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.
Sources
Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.
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