Tales of Opera - Waterloo County/Region 1885 - 2020

By Paul Langan

The history of opera and operettas in the Waterloo County/Region in Ontario Canada from 1880-2020. Features chapters on: Berlin Opera House, Scott's Opera House, Twin City Operatic Society, Mabel Krug, Preston Operatic Society, Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Opera at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Langan
• Release date: Mar 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781778128905

Book preview

Introduction

S

tarting another book always leads to the same anxieties and problems. For myself I really do not think about how large the audience is for the subject matter. Now with print-on-demand and e-books available, the financial burden is less now than twenty years ago when I first started writing history books.

I performed a thorough search to see that the subject matter has not been done before. I have no interest in putting out a book on a subject that has already been covered. In this case a search revealed that there was nothing on the history of opera in the Waterloo County/Region.

I do worry about whether I can get enough information on the topic and if there are still people alive that can help bring the book to life with their personal experiences.

The topic of writing a book on opera/operetta in the Waterloo area would have never come into my mind without these two events happening.

Our son Dylan Langan went to Wilfrid Laurier University and became enamoured with opera to the point he started up his own opera company to help aspiring opera singers and orchestral musicians.

Looking through the City of Cambridge Archives information on Scott’s Opera House, Galt, ON. This amazing collection of photos, programs from the early 1900’s are of significant historical relevance to the early days of musical entertainment in the area. I absolutely loved researching each of the types of entertainment that played there and their history. I then realized that the Waterloo Region had over 100 years of opera history that had not been captured in a book form.

Other important events that occurred that allowed me to pursue this book was Dr. Ted Rhodes and later Leslie De’Ath agreeing to write chapters in the book.

Ted Rhodes - Dr. Edward (Ted) Rhodes is an experienced university president, educator, researcher, professional engineer and senior industrial corporate executive.

He is also a trained musician and vocalist (tenor) (Faculty of Music: Wilfrid Laurier University and Dalhousie University) having performed as an amateur and professional all over Canada. He was a producer of amateur and professional musical stage productions. He was/is a Board Member and President of several important Canadian arts organizations.

Ted was part of a group including Jacqueline Richards and Raffi Armenian that started up the K-W Opera Guild. Ted was also instrumental in the productions of the Oktoberfest Operettas in the 1980s. His valuable personal insights in to those times make the chapters he was involved with come alive.

Leslie De’Ath - Began his career at Wilfrid Laurier University in 1979 at the Faculty of Music. He is an acclaimed solo and collaborative pianist, conductor and author. He is a regular keyboard player with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and the Elora Festival Singers. He has a complete encyclopaedic knowledge of the 51-year history of opera performed at Laurier. He also has an extensive collection of programs, reviews, posters and photos.

Leslie has written the chapters on the Wilfrid Laurier Opera history and on the Viva Voci Concerts Chapter.

A giant thank-you to Danielle Robichaud, Digital Archivist, Special Collections & Archives University of Waterloo Library.  During the Covid-19 pandemic she went beyond the call of duty to get the photos, documents I needed from the Archives.

I would also like to thank Karen Ball-Pyatt, Manager - Grace Schmidt Room of Local History. Catherine Muss for her proof-reading skills and Dan Schmalz at the City of Cambridge Archives.

What is in the book?

The book will focus mainly on opera and operetta.

The book captures the period from 1885 to 2020 in Waterloo County, now Region. We readily acknowledge that not all opera and operetta performances that occurred in the Region/County have been captured in this book.

An important point is that some types of entertainment did offer opera on occasion but not as a normal part of their repertoire.  For example, the Säengerfeste that was popular in this area at one time.

Sängerfeste (singers’ festivals), were occasions organized to perpetuate German singing and social traditions. These events were popular in Waterloo County primarily from 1860 to the start of the 1st World War.

In 1898 the Sängerfeste included a performance of the opera Snow White. Snow White a fairy opera in two acts, adapted from a German legend by Florence Hoare, music by Madame Mely (Countess Vanden Henvel). They also performed The Princess Bonnie: An Original American-Spanish Comic Opera in Two Acts.

What is not in the book?

Opera concert performances - (Wikipedia) A concert performance or concert version performance of opera in concert form, without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers. Quite often the orchestra does not play in the orchestra pit put on the stage. These have been staged by orchestras like the K-W Symphony.

Musical theatre - Musicals generally reflect the style of popular music of the day, operas and operettas are written with classical or classical-style music.

For example: The K-W Musical Productions have been putting on musical productions in the community for over 70 years. This book only discusses seven operetta performances they put on from their earliest days when they were known as the Twin City Operatic Society. Their history of musical theatre productions by K-W Musical Productions is worthy of a book.

Choral Groups, Orchestras - There is a rich history and continues to be a strong presence of these types of entertainment in the Waterloo Region. There have been so many groups in the region that have put on plays, theatre, vocal and orchestral concerts over the years.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Community Concert Association existed in the community for over 63 years from 1929-1993. It organized over 250 performances. Many famous operatic singers were featured at their concerts.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is only mentioned in relation to its operatic past.  The Kitchener Musical Society Band has been around since 1876.

The Grand Philharmonic Choir has been around since 1922. The KW Philharmonic Choir (former name of the Grand Philharmonic) under the direction of Howard Dyck was a thriving concern and had many wonderful singers in the Oktoberfest Operetta choruses.

These are four of the many examples of the area’s extensive music heritage that deserve a more detailed examination.

There were also people that are not mentioned in the book like Theodor Zoellner. Who was an early teacher, organist, and choirmaster. Preston’s Paul Mills had an outstanding career as Stage Director for New York’s Metropolitan Opera Company. He worked with some of the biggest stars in the opera world. Both men had careers worthy of future examination.

Raffi Armenian, who did so much for raising the profile of the symphony and opera in the community is mentioned, though his legacy deserves a more detailed review.

I am hopeful this book will inspire someone to write about these important musical organizations and people that are not included in the book.

Paul Langan

Hespeler, Ontario

August 3rd, 2021

Beginnings of Opera

in Waterloo County

I

n Ontario in the 1800s the military garrisons in London, Toronto and Kingston were some of the earliest locations where performances were given. Usually a type of drama, such as melodrama or comedy.

As the population began to grow towns with taverns and eventually town halls would host entertainment. The types of entertainment were of a wide variety including minstrel shows, burlesque, elocutionists, singers, magicians, mesmerists, illusionists and lecturers to name just some of the options available to audiences of the time. Some of the performers may have sung selections from operas/operettas.

There were also oddity acts, dime museums and circuses. In 1859 Blondin crossed over the Niagara Falls on a wire creating a parade of people competing to do it with even more difficult stunts.

If people are interested in this time period of Ontario entertainment history it is recommended they read the 1990 book titled, Early Stages: Theatre in Ontario, 1800-1914 edited by Ann Saddlemyer.

But it was the arrival of the railway that brought more prosperity and people into towns and cities. Railways that arrived in this area were:

●  Grand Trunk 1856 Berlin, Guelph, Toronto, to London 1958.

●  Great Western 1855 Galt, Hespeler 1857 to Guelph. Galt to Harrisburg 1854

●  Credit Valley Railway (later CPR) Toronto to Galt 1880

This allowed opera companies from the USA, mostly out of the New York area and Canada, to tour by train.

According to Kathleen J. Fraser’s 2008 paper, Theatre Management in the Nineteenth Century: Eugene A. McDowell in Canada 1847-1891, New York was a place to renew theatrical ties and to make bookings for tours, partly because many small-town Canadian opera houses advertised their vacancies in the New York Dramatic Mirror, and because Canadian managers came to New York every year to book shows.

There were stock and touring companies. Touring companies of all types of entertainment offered a chance for theatre managers to change up their program regularly.

It is unknown when the first opera performance was given in Waterloo County.  To start our historical look of opera in this area we will begin with Albert Tavenier whose opera company gave a performance in Berlin on February 26th 1885. The ad mentions the Berlin Opera House. However, the Berlin Opera House did not open until 1899. Therefore, the performance would have been in a hall.

Albert Tavenier’s opera company featured his wife, Ida Van Cortland. Tavernier has an interesting history and is typical of how opera companies operated at the time.

Albert, who had been born in 1859, already had a vast musical background by the time he came to Berlin. He worked in the following companies, and others, performing in Canada and the USA before he started his own: C.W. Couldock Stock Company, E.A. McDowell Touring Company, and William Nannery and his company in St. John, Newfoundland.

It is there he met his future wife, Ida Van Cortland. By 1882 they had set up their own company and were playing mostly small cities and towns in Canada. Hence, his performance in Berlin, February 1885. Albert went on to become the first manager of Guelph’s Royal Opera House in 1894.

Berlin Opera

House 1986 - 1924

I

n 1896, the Berlin Opera House was built by Abel Walper on Queen Street at the rear of the present Walper House. The brick building was turned into an opera house in just three months. It was a two-and-a-half storey red brick building. Abel leased the 800-seat theatre to George (Pop) Philip.

Berliner Journal articles about the Berlin Opera House.

August 29th, and September 3rd, 1896

The new opera house is rapidly nearing completion and next Tuesday and Wednesday will be inaugurated by the Wilbur Opera Company. The building is beautifully and practically organized throughout; the auditorium measures 56' x 36' and has, together with the large gallery, seating for 800 people; the stage is 24' wide, 27' long and 47' high, including the rooms for scenery.

It was a big improvement over the previous hall. Opera companies would have to leave their sets at Grand Trunk Railway Station because there was not enough room to use them.

It has 468 modern opera chairs that were made in Preston Ontario. Going to the upper portion of the house there is a large hall 13' x 14' with comfortable seating.

The opera house has 12 complete stage scenes of which at least 20 different settings can be made. One-third of a mile of rope is used to hoisting and lowering the scenes. In the floodlight trough there are 36 gas jets. There was speaking tubes at different locations in the house.

The illumination is provided by fittings for gas and electric light. The building contract was bestowed on Mr. H. Wildfong, who had subcontracted the masonry work to Mr. George Schlee, the painting to Mr. F. Vetter, and the piping and conduits to Mr. P. Gies. As already announced, the Wilbur Opera Co. will give three performances in Berlin; in addition to the opera, there will be presentations of living pictures, marches, etc. with electrical illumination.

In the first year of operation, the first silent movie was brought to Kitchener. On November 9, 1896, it was advertised as, The Greatest Wonder of the Age: Lumiere’s Great Invention, The Cinematograph - Marvellous Motion Pictures. Silent movies were shown regularly.

Vaudeville, theatrical plays, dramas, comedies, minstrel shows, magicians, singers, boxing matches, silent and sound movies were some of the entertainments at the opera house.

The focus of this book is opera/operetta. The majority of performances at the Berlin Opera House were of the entertainment kinds mentioned above.

George O. (Pop) Philip

George O. (Pop) Philip, at one time, was manager of the moving picture houses Theatorium and Allen’s Star Theatre on King Street West. They both opened in 1907.  George left the Berlin Opera