Opera Scotland

Lily of Killarney 1917O'Mara Grand Opera Company

Read more about the opera Lily of Killarney

Sir Julius Benedict's most successful work had never quite equalled the popularity of Maritana or The Bohemian Girl, and once the war ended it quickly faded from sight.  The source play, Boucicault's Colleen Bawn, also faced oblivion, from which it has yet to show any sign of recovery.

Here, however, it still made a popular piece of easy listening for an audience (and orchestra) that had faced the challenge of Tristan a couple of nights earlier.  Indeed the Friday night Tosca was also an enormous challenge for the local players.

This was the only outing the piece had on the two-week long Scottish visit (Aberdeen followed by Dundee). Nor was it revived on the Autumn tour to Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The incomplete cast is as advertised on the day of performance, and no conductor was mentioned.  Given that the performance was a Saturday evening; after which the company would move on south of the border, it is not surprising that there is no newspaper review, either of The Lily of Killarney or of the matinee of Faust.