Plé:Eithne (ceoldráma)
The opera told the story of “a beautiful but disconsolate ‘Princess of Tir-na-n-Og’, wandering the earth seeking the hero who shall break the spell and restore her lost mother, and of the hero, ‘Ceart’, who after overcoming his enemies, achieves the task and wins the Princess”. The opera is also known as "Éan an Cheoil Bhinn" (The Bird of Sweet Music), according to Gaelport.
The composer, Robert O’Dwyer was born in Bristol in 1862 and later moved to Ireland where he was appointed to the Dublin Corporation professorship of Irish music in 1914. He became professor of Irish music at UCD in 1929 and was also an Irish language activist. The opera’s librettist was a Sligo priest, Fr Tomás Ó Ceallaigh.
Eithne was first performed at the Rotunda in Dublin during the “Oireachtas” – an annual arts festival of traditional Irish culture – in 1909. The Irish Times reported that the occasion was “likely to prove memorable in the annals of the Gaelic renaissance for it marks the production of the first genuine Irish opera” which “opens an entirely new epoch, and it unfolds prospects of Ireland once again being a musical nation”. The critic said the music was “rather Wagnerian” and, therefore, “not new in style” but that the composer had shown “an astonishing grasp of the powers of expression in his vocal and instrumental material”.
The paper opined that “the harp is mute no longer; it has been restrung, and it sings once more the sweet music of ancient Ireland”. Oh dear! Little did The Irish Times know then that, a century on, the harp that once through Tara’s halls would be nicked by Jedward.
The opera was staged commercially the following year, with the backing of patrons including Countess Markievicz, Dr Douglas Hyde and Lady Gore-Booth. Eithne opened at the Gaiety Theatre on Monday, May 16th, 1910. Long-forgotten stars of the Dublin stage played the leading roles: Evelyn Duffy as “Eithne”; William Dever as “The High King of Eirinn”; and Joseph O’Mara as “Ceart”. A Mr Ernest Cameron had a grand part; he played “The Guardian Spirit of Tir-na-n-Og”.
The following morning’s Irish Times review was again reasonably positive and the critic noted that Mr O’Mara was judged to have been “far and away the best of the performers”; and, although Mr Dever was “not up to his usual standard”, Miss Duffy sang “exceptionally well”. But “the rest of the soloists were not above the usual amateur level”.
The unnamed critic described the production as “a very elaborate piece of work” and also commented that “the opera, being entirely the work of Irish brains, is altogether about as distinctively Irish as could be”. But he didn’t seem to enjoy it quite as much as the audience and asserted that the composer, Mr O’Dwyer, had been overly influenced by “many of the most blatant mannerisms of Wagner, sometimes involving uglinesses not justified by dramatic effect”.
Overall, though, “the opera was enthusiastically received” and “Mr O’Dwyer appeared several times on the stage with the principals in response to applause at the conclusion of each scene”.
Despite the good coverage, however, Eithne appears to have sunk without trace and has not, apparently, been revived in the last 100 years.
Start a discussion about Eithne (ceoldráma)
Talk pages are where people discuss how to make content on Vicipéid the best that it can be. You can use this page to start a discussion with others about how to improve Eithne (ceoldráma).
