The Beecham Opera Company was an opera company founded by
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...
which presented opera in English in London and on tour between 1916 and 1920.
The initiative was conceived as part of Beecham's campaign to foster musical life during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, after the forced closure of the
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
Opera Company, where the conductor had been mounting opera seasons. Conveniently, Beecham's project was able to draw on many former members of the
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
-based Denhof Opera Company, thereby effectively continuing the earlier company's work. The company was formed with mainly British singers, with New Zealander Rosina Buckman a notable exception; she was assigned the role of a principal dramatic soprano. Supported financially by Beecham's father,
Joseph
Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
, the new outfit quickly turned into a successful touring company with casts of mainly British singers, including Frank Mullings, who was entrusted with some of the key lead roles.
Beecham's company provided the wartime public with opera performances both around the provinces and in London (at the
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...
,
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...
and
Aldwych
Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it, in the City of Westminster, part of Greater London, and is part of the West End of London, West End West End Theatre, Theatreland. T ...
theatres), even during the 1917
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...
raids. The repertoire was extensive, and included productions of works as ambitious as ''Boris Godunov'' (in French) and ''
Tristan und Isolde
''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
''. Although Beecham had intended the company to be a permanent venture, it was disbanded in 1920 when financial problems over buying the
Bedford Estate
The Bedford Estate is an estate in central London owned by the Russell family, which holds the peerage title of Duke of Bedford. The estate was originally based in Covent Garden, then stretched to include Bloomsbury in 1669.British National Opera Company (1922–1929), a replacement venture which bought the entire assets of the Beecham company, comprising the scenery, costumes, scores, instruments and performing rights for 48 operas.''The Times'', 27 September 1921, p. 12