The Lily of Killarney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lily of Killarney is an opera in three acts by Julius Benedict. The libretto, by John Oxenford and Dion Boucicault, is based on Boucicault's own play The Colleen Bawn. The opera received its premiere at Covent Garden Theatre, London on Monday 10 February 1862.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Background
The Lily of Killarney became the most widely performed of Benedict's operas. It has been linked with Balfe's The Bohemian Girl and Wallace's Maritana as 'The Irish Ring'.[2] [3] Its convincing handling of Irish idiom is interesting considering Benedict's German-Jewish origins. Some of the opera's songs - notably The moon hath raised her lamp above and Eily Mavourneen - remain in the repertoire.
The opera is mentioned in James Joyce Ulysses,[4].
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, February 1862 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Eily O'Connor (the 'colleen bawn') | soprano | Louisa Pyne |
| Ann Shute | soprano | |
| Mr. Corrigan | bass | |
| Father Tom | bass | |
| Hardress Cregan | tenor | |
| Mrs. Cregan | contralto | |
| Danny Mann | baritone | Charles Santley |
| Myles na Coppaleen | tenor |
[edit] Synopsis
Killarney at the end of the 18th century. Creggan has married Eily (the 'colleen bawn' = Gaelic 'the fair maid') in secret. Corrigan threatens to disposess Creggan and his mother, who have mortgaged their lands to him, unless Creggan marries the heiress Ann Shute. Creggan's friend Danny offers to resolve the situation by killing Eily. Creggan demurs, but the unwitting Mrs. Creggan is persuaded by Danny to give a signal for Eily's death. But before he can kill her, Danny himself is accidentally shot by Myles (who is out hunting), to whom he confesses. Creggan is about to marry Ann when Corrigan arrives to arrest him for plotting Eily's death. Myles makes public Danny's confession, Creggan acknowledges Eily and Ann (in the most unlikely turn of all) undertakes to settle the Creggans' debts to Corrigan.
[edit] Sources
- Nigel Burton, The Lily of Killarney in Grove Music Online
- The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
[edit] Notes
- ^ The date of 8th February often given was in fact the premiere of Balfe's The Puritan's Daughter; Benedict's opera followed on Monday 10th (Grove Music Online)
- ^ Burton, GMO
- ^ Seamus Reilly, James Joyce and Dublin Opera: 1888-1904, p. 6, in Bronze by Gold, the Music of Joyce, edited by Sebastian D. G. Knowles, Garland Publishing
- ^ "Ulysses by James Joyce: The Lily of Killarney , accessed 29 June 2009
