11 - Carmen in the Antipodes

Summary

There were no permanent professional opera companies in Australia in the nineteenth century. However, visits from touring companies were frequent, especially after the Gold Rush, when, as one critic put it, ‘all the glittering operatic repertoire of mid-nineteenth century Europe filled the antipodean air.’ In the period under consideration, there were many productions of Carmen by major touring companies and also by more ad hoc touring artists who joined up with local groups.  I have chosen to focus on the four most significant productions of the period.

The first production of Carmen was in 1879 by William Saurin Lyster’s opera company. This production established the opera’s popularity in Australia and was followed by a number of less satisfactory productions in the final decades of the century. In 1907, Lyster’s nephew, George Musgrove brought a German opera company to Australia who performed Carmen in German. This was followed by a spectacular performance by the Melba-Williamson company of 1911 and then perhaps the most professional productions to date, by English entrepreneur Thomas Quinlan’s touring companies (1912, 1913).

This chapter examines the controversy surrounding the opera and the critical response to the character of Carmen in light of the colonial desire for respectability.