University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra, chorus and some singers drawn from the student body. Founded in 1951, UCOpera is renowned for its productions of under-performed operas, which include the stagings of 3 world premières and 23 British premières to date. On 10 March 2008, UCOpera staged the UK première of

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie Espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that re ...

's '' Fiesque'', at the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre located on Gordon Street in Bloomsbury, within the London Borough of Camden. It is owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 541 and offers a professional programme of innovati ...

. 2009 saw another British première, Ernest Bloch's ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. UCOpera extended its list of British premières by staging

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's '' Polyeucte'' at

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford East (formerly known as Theatre Royal Stratford East) is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with di ...

in 2018, Smetana's Czech national opera ''

Libuše , Libussa, Libushe or, historically ''Lubossa'', is a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty and the Czechs, Czech people as a whole. According to legend, she was the youngest but wisest of three sisters, who became queen after their father ...

'' in 2019, and Robert Ward's ''The Crucible'' in 2024. In 2025, UCOpera held the European première of Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers.

History

The brainchild of the conductor Anthony Addison, ( UCL's then Director of Music), University College Opera gave its first performance in 1951 with an all-student production of

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncer ...

'', followed by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Bastien und Bastienne ' (''Bastien and Bastienne''), Köchel catalogue, K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It wa ...

''. Even in its earliest years, the company's annual repertoire concentrated on rarely performed operas including: Nicolai's ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' (1952), Bizet's ''

Don Procopio ''Don Procopio'' is a two-act opera buffa by Georges Bizet with an Italian libretto completed in 1859, and first performed in 1906. Background Bizet spent 1857 to 1860 in Italy as winner of the Prix de Rome. Looking for inspiration for a work to s ...

'' (1955) and Lortzing's '' Der Wildschütz'' (1958). In 1961, the company staged its first UK première, Moniuszko's '' Halka''. During its first 17 years, UCOpera's performances took place in the old gymnasium at University College. With the opening of the college's

in 1968, the company finally acquired a suitable venue for its productions. Under the directorship of George Badacsonyi who served from 1963 to 1976, UCOpera increasingly employed professional opera singers (often in the early stages of their careers) to sing the solo roles, with students making up the chorus and orchestra. Amongst the professional singers who have appeared with the company are

Felicity Lott Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, (born 8 May 1947) is an English soprano. Education Lott was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and bega ...

(who is now the patron of Friends of UCOpera), Robert Lloyd, Jonathan Summers and

Julian Gavin Julian Gavin (born 1965) is an Australian-born British operatic tenor who has sung leading roles both in the United Kingdom and internationally. His full-length opera recordings include Don José in ''Carmen'' and the title roles in ''Ernani'' an ...

. The company's productions also became more ambitious with a series of UK and world premières including:

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's '' Das Liebesverbot'' (1965);

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's ''Die Feuersbrunst'' (1966); Erkel's '' Bánk bán'' (1968); and Verdi's '' Alzira'' (1970). A highlight for the company under the directorship of David Drummond (who served from 1992 to 2001) was UCOpera's world première staging of

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

's '' Hulda'' in its complete form. The 1994 production used a score which Drummond restored from the composer's original manuscript. Drummond's last performance as the company's Director coincided with its 50th anniversary, the 2001 UK première of Aulis Sallinen's '' Kullervo''. Under the directorship of Charles Peebles, UCOpera has produced British premières of Hahn's '' Ciboulette'', Dvořák's '' Vanda'', Lalo's '' Fiesque'',

's '' Polyeucte'' and Smetana's ''

''. In 2012 UCOpera produced the first staging of Rameau's '' Acante et Céphise'' since the 18th century. After staging at least one opera a year for 69 years, the continuity was broken in 2020, as the production of

's '' L'anima del filosofo'' was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Since 2022, UCOpera has been under the baton of Matt Scott Rogers. The first UCOpera production under Rogers was

Carlisle Floyd Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American So ...

's ''

Susannah ''Susannah'' is an opera in two acts by the American composer Carlisle Floyd, who wrote the libretto and music while a member of the piano faculty at Florida State University. Floyd adapted the story from the Apocryphal tale of Susannah and the ...

'' (2023). This was followed in 2024 by the company's UK première of Robert Ward's ''The Crucible'', adapted from the celebrated

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. In 2025, UCOpera staged the European première of Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers, based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, with Eleanor Strutt returning to direct.

Productions since 2001

(* denotes British premières) (*** denotes European premières)

Productions 1951 to 2000

(* denotes British premières) (** denotes world premières)

References

;Notes ;Sources *Christiansen, Rupert
"South Seas romp for desert island Dick"
(review of Offenbach's ''Whittington''), ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 26 March 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2008. *Elleson, Ruth
"Bloch's ''Macbeth''"
(review), ''Opera Today'', 30 March 2009. *Hall, Georg

(review), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 12 March 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008. *Kimberley, Nick
"Epic on a human scale"
(review of Sallinen's ''Kullervo''), ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 29 March 2001. Retrieved 8 March 2008. *Maycock, Robert
"Out of the top drawer"
(review of Franck's ''Hulda''), ''The Independent'', 24 March 1994 *Maycock, Robert

''The Independent'', 24 March 1995 *University College Opera
Company history
(official website)

External links

University College Opera official website

The Bloomsbury Theatre
the main venue for UCOpera performances
UCOpera Photo Gallery
{{authority control British opera companies Opera in London

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

University musical groups in the United Kingdom Performing groups established in 1951 1951 establishments in England