160 YEARS AGO IN GEELONG
(From the pages of the Geelong Chronicle)
In February 1863, Mr W. Stoneham, a Geelong musician and bandmaster, announced that he had much pleasure in giving a ‘grand operatic entertainment’ at the Theatre Royal, Malop Street, Geelong.
He was assisted by Miss Octavia Hamilton, Mr Farquharson and members of the chorus of Lyster’s Opera Company, Melbourne. Mr Megson was the solo violinist and musical director; Mr Stockmeyer, the pianist.
The program included arias from Meyerbeer’s, Les Huguenots, and Wallace’s, Maritana.
Songs from Donizetti’s, L’Elixir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) and Lucrezia Borgia were performed. A duet from Verdi’s, Il Trovatore (The Troubador) rounded out the night’s entertainment.
Most of the operas had been composed in the 1830s and 1840s but were still popular with audiences. Verdi’s opera was the most recent, having been composed in 1852.
Mr Stoneham was to see that the private boxes at the theatre were made suitable for ‘the reception of ladies’. (By reducing the number of chairs in the private boxes, room could be made for fashionable ladies in large, hooped skirts.) Seats in the private boxes were priced at 5 shillings; stalls 2 shillings; and the pit 1 shilling. The advertisement ended with a sentence we are familiar with today: ‘Smoking will be strictly prohibited in any part of the House’.
There was to be another concert at the Theatre Royal on the following night but there had been a mix up about renting the theatre and Miss Hamilton and Mr Farquharson performed instead at the Temperance Hall, Little Malop Street.
Reviews were glowing: ‘Miss Hamilton seems to improve in voice and artistic skill every time we hear her.’ Of Mr Farquharson, there was an ‘additional depth and sonorousness to his glorious voice and he has developed a greater flexibility.’
Then, as today, opera is a very expensive form of theatre to perform. After the move to the smaller venue, Mr Stoneham was unable to make a profit on his venture. Despite his singers’
good reviews, the impresario was left the poorer for his efforts.
This article was provided by the Geelong Historical Society. For enquiries, email admin@geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au or write C/- P.O. Box 7129, Geelong West, 3218.
