2. SITUACIÓN DE LAS EEI EN ESPAÑA
2.7. Realización de inventarios y atlas
1965 was an exceptionally active year for Eoan’s Opera section. Not only did they present their annual opera season in March and April (this time it was their sixth and the season consisted of four operas), but they also embarked on a three month tour of the country from June to August, travelling to Johannesburg, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth. During the tour they give a total of 49 performances.
During the March season in Cape Town Eoan performed two operas from their existing repertoire: Verdi’s La Traviata and Puccini’s La Bohème. They also added two new
123 Jorda was conductor of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra from 1947 to 1954. J.P. Malan, ‘The Cape Town Municipal Orchestra’, SAME, Volume 1, pp. 252-3.
productions, Verdi’s Il Trovatore (with which they opened the season) and Donizetti’s L’Elisire D’Amore, all produced by Allesandro Rota.125 The season ran from 18 March
until 17 April, comprising 31 performances: one every weekday evening, two on Saturdays and a rest day on Sundays.126 Manca wrote in a press release:
The operas will be once more sung in the Italian language and produced and presented in the Italian tradition. Here again, the immense talents and versatility of our Coloured people come to the fore. It is almost incredible that here are artists who have never seen Italian Opera, have a limited or no knowledge of music, have not had vocal training and cannot speak the Italian language and yet are able to perform opera of a high standard.127
Each major principal can sing at least two roles and in some cases three or four. […] This is no mean feat when one realises the time at the disposal of these artists who all have full- time occupations and can only devote themselves to music in their leisure hours.128
Manca’s ambitions also appeared as high as ever:
This is indeed an ambitious programme equal to seasons presented by the more famous Opera Houses in Europe. Nevertheless, the Eoan Group is proud to bring to Cape Town these very popular operas which are some of the favourites of most opera lovers. The Eoan Group hopes to establish an Annual Opera Season thus making it one of the features of Cape Town’s cultural life at the same time providing a long-felt amenity in addition to an attraction for holiday visitors and tourists.129
As usual, many letters expressing appreciation were received from the public. Erik Chisholm, Dean of the College of Music and also an avid opera composer and producer, wrote to Joseph Manca on 19 May 1965:
Dear Dr. Manca,
I should have dropped you a line much earlier than this to tell you how much my wife and I enjoyed your thrilling performance at the opening night of Il Trovatore.
I thought the whole performance a triumph. My sincerest congratulations for the wonderful opera season you and Eoan group have just completed: I cannot begin to tell you how much I admire your courage and achievements. 130
125 Minutes of the 32nd AGM held on 29 September 1966, pp. 3-4. Eoan Archive, box 1, folder 3. 126 Cape Town Municipal Orchestra Call Sheet March 1965. Eoan Archive, box 33, folder 228. 127 Press Release to The 1965 Eoan Opera Season, p. 4. Eoan Archive, box 2, folder 9.
128 Ibid, p. 5. 129 Ibid.
130 Letter from Erik Chisholm to Manca, 19 May 1965. Eoan Archive, box 3, folder 23. At the bottom of the page Chisholm added by hand to this otherwise typed letter: ‘As for CAPAB….??’, indicating that in Chisholm’s opinion Eoan competed well, if not better, with CAPAB as far as opera production was concerned. The tone of the letter is indicative of Chisholm’s socialist convictions and that he admired Manca for bringing opera by the working class to the working class. Although the admiration he speaks of might have been on the political level rather than the
A letter from a Coloured lady, Mrs. R. Smith, stated that ‘the overwhelming success of the show made up for the hurt that filled me towards those who cannot accept us as part of the human race.’131 At the very least these fragments of reception indicate that Eoan’s
activities were marked by a deep ambivalence between collaboration and agency, represented by sources of funding and Coloured opera stars respectively.
The young and very talented Eoan member, Gordon Jephtas, was prominently involved in training and rehearsing the group.132 His role during the season and the upcoming tour was that of repetiteur, accompanist and stage conductor, the only non-white person to play this role during this stage of Eoan’s history.133 In rehearsal schedules Manca gave him the title ‘Meastro Gordon’ (he was 22 at the time) and allowed Jephtas the freedom to rehearse with the group whatever section of the music he felt needed attention. This gifted pianist had been sponsored by the Eoan Group to study music at the College of Music at the University of Cape Town.134 Manca was particularly fond of Jephtas and often referred to him as ‘God’s gift to Eoan.’135
Eoan’s Second Opera Tour through the Republic of South Africa was undertaken from June to August 1965, visiting Johannesburg, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth.136 The programme for the tour included the operas presented during the opera season in Cape Town, as well as a new addition to Eoan’s repertoire, Bizet’s Carmen.137 Many
arrangements could not be finalized before their departure from Cape Town and from the
musical level, it is also clear that there was little professional rivalry between the two men. Chisholm passed away on 8 June 1965.
131 Letter from Mrs. R. Smith to Manca, 20 March 1965. Eoan Archive, box 2, folder 9. 132 See rehearsal schedules for the 1965 Opera Season in the Eoan Archive, box 3, folder 17. 133 Joseph Manca, Advance Publicity 1965 Opera Tour, Johannesburg Season, no date, p. 6. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646a.
134 No author, ‘Uitdaging het Jephtas gelok’ Die Burger, 2 April 1986.
http://152.111.1.251/argief/berigte/dieburger/1986/04/02/2/10.html, accessed 9 May 2008. See also Joseph Manca, Historical overview of Eoan’s activities from 1933-1968, p. 24. Eoan Archive, box 60, folder 494c.
135 No author.‘Hulde aan ‘n vriend’, Die Burger, 11 November 1992.
http://152.111.1.251/argief/berigte/dieburger/1992/07/11/13/6.html, accessed 8 May 2008. The Eoan Archive holds a striking picture of Manca and Jephtas at the piano during rehearsal. Eoan Archive, box 34, folder 324. More evidence of Manca’s high opinion of Jephtas can be seen in correspondence between Ismail Sydow and Manca in the Eoan archive, box 86, folder 686. 136 Joseph Manca. Historical overview of Eoan’s activities from 1933-1968, p. 24. Eoan Archive, box 60, folder 494c.
start the tour was beset with problems. The degree to which Apartheid legislation restricted the group’s freedom of movement had increased substantially since their first tour in 1960, resulting in many logistical problems. On arriving in Johannesburg they faced one of the coldest winter seasons experienced in years in the city. Apart from the effect of the high altitude and dry winter, the company was affected by serious attacks of flu and colds. Their male principal tenor, Joseph Gabriels, suffered from laryngitis during most of the tour. Since he had a national reputation, a number of concert goers wrote letters to Manca expressing their disappointment at missing the opportunity to hear Gabriels.138 The
Johannesburg season was held at the Civic Theatre and Eoan had to apply for permits to be able to perform as Coloured people in a hall designated for Whites. Eoan was informed that although they were allowed to perform in that venue, a permit allowing two concerts in front of a Coloured public in the same venue was refused. Eoan’s letter of appeal was dismissed and the government’s message read as follows:
I have to advise you that the Honourable the Minister of Community Development has upheld the decision … to refuse the issue of a permit authorizing the General Manager [of the] Civic Theatre, Johannesburg, to allow members of the Coloured, Indian and Chinese race groups to attend the opera performances in the Civic Theatre on the 17th June and 1st July 1965. The Minister has intimated that the Coronationville Hall in the Coloured Group area of Coronationville may be used for the purpose contemplated.’139
Eoan eventually presented one performance in Coronationville on 5 July.140
Manca’s original plan was to extend the tour to Rhodesia and Mozambique after completing the performances in Port Elizabeth by the end of August141 but, once again, this did not materialize.142 As late as 23 July 1965, whilst already on tour in Johannesburg, the Department of Home Affairs advised Eoan that passport applications for the whole group would be approved, except for their principal male singer, Joseph Gabriels. No reasons were provided why his application had been turned down.143 Despite an urgent
138 See letters in Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646a.
139 Letter from the Department of Community Development, 1 June 1965. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646a.
140 1965 Eoan Tour Performance Shedule. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646a.
141 Minutes of the 32nd AGM held on 29 September 1966, Eoan Archive, box 1, folder 3. See also Documents of financial planning, Eoan Archive, box 3, folder 23.
142 Joseph Manca, Historical overview of Eoan’s activities from 1933-1968, p. 24. Eoan Archive, box 60, folder 494c.
appeal to the Secretary of Home Affairs in Pretoria, no favourable answer was received and this leg of the tour was eventually cancelled.144
For their performances in Port Elizabeth, Eoan also had to apply for permits to perform in the Opera House and for Coloured people to be able to attend some performances. As late as 7 July, whilst on their way to Durban, Eoan was informed that although their permit had been granted to perform in the Opera House for white audiences, non-white audiences were not allowed ‘as the Opera House lacks separate facilities for a non-white
audience.’145 The Department further added that should Eoan ‘find a less contentiously situated hall where adequate separate provision for non-white audiences exist, Eoan may submit another application to stage one or more performances by the Group before a non- white (other than Bantu) audience.’146 The facilities in question were presumably separate entrances and toilets. Knowing that no other venue in Port Elizabeth existed with the necessary facilities to perform opera, this situation posed a particularly difficult problem for the group. Ismail Sydow again wrote an urgent letter of appeal, addressed to the Secretary of Coloured Affairs in Cape Town and stating that:
If there is to be no performance to non-whites (other than Bantu) in Port Elizabeth, the Group’s relations with the coloured population of Port Elizabeth are likely to be prejudiced. I would particularly like to point out that there is no suitable hotel
accommodation for the cast and I am accordingly obliged to arrange accommodation for 62 non-white members with private families in Port Elizabeth and I very much fear that if I have to advise the coloured population of Port Elizabeth that there will be no performance of any of our operas for them I may not secure the necessary accommodation and will accordingly not be able to perform in Port Elizabeth at all.147
In a letter to Murray Bisset (an Eoan Group trustee) Manca wrote: ‘When I started out on this tour I was fully aware of the many difficulties and handicaps both Ismail and I would have to face, but it seems that on this occasion they have been more than thousandfold. I have been under constant physical and emotional strain, having no time for myself, working from early morning to midnight every day, yet I must not grumble – this is the way set for me by the Almighty, and I am His humble servant, and must fulfill what He
144 Letter to the Secretary of the Interior, 23 July 1965. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646b.
145 Letter from The Department of Community Development, 20 July 1965. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646b.
146 Ibid.
has ordained for me.’148 In September 1965 Bisset received a letter from Hymie Udwin, the Theatre International organizer of the tour, stating that ‘Non-European support was negligible. It is not for me to enter into the whys and wherefores of the obvious boycott, but this attitude is surely tragic.’149
However, reviews of the tour’s performances were once again positive. Eoan’s production of Carmen was criticized, as one critic said it ‘smacked all too coyly of musical comedy rather than Bizet’s fiery portrayal of Espana’.150 The soprano Winifred du Plessis made her debut as Violetta in La Traviata and sang alongside Gerald Samaai as Alfredo. The critic Oliver Walker described her voice in a Johannesburg newspaper as follows: ‘What amazing purity of intonation and certainty of pitch the young Cape Town soprano,
Winifred du Plessis, has in the difficult role of Violetta!’.151 Pieter Serfontein added to this by writing that ‘her mezzo-voce and pianissimo is delightful. Her technique is of such quality that the colour of her voice stays the same in all registers. It is like a silver thread spun throughout her range.’152 Many other newspaper reviews carried laudatory headlines such as ‘Another outstanding opera’, ‘Triumph for Cape Town Violetta’, ‘A colourful Trovatore’, ‘Eoan at its best in high comedy’, and ‘Il Trovatore gives us a star’.153
Judging by the newspaper reviews the tour was an artistic success. Financially, however, it was a disaster and landed the Group in major financial difficulties.154 The overdraft on Eoan’s bank account by year end amounted to R 34 374. In a later document Manca wrote that ‘regrettably, in spite of the great artistic success of this tour, financially it proved to be a loss – a most inexplicable fact.’155 As if to soften the blow, he added that:
148 Letter from Manca to Bisset, written in Durban, 8 July 1965. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646a.
149 Letter from Udwin to Bisset, 15 September 1965. Eoan Archive, box 83, folder 646a.
150 Author’s name abbreviated as G.N, ‘Thank you for coming: and for Traviata’, newspaper and date of publication unknown. Eoan Archive, box 93, folder 765.
151 Oliver Walker. ‘Triumph for Cape Town Violetta’, newspaper and date of publication unknown. Eoan Archive, box 93, folder 765.
152 Pieter Serfontein, ‘Eoan-groep se La Traviata ’n belewenis’, newspaper and date of publication unknown. Eoan Archive, box 93, folder 765.
153 Various newspaper reviews in the Eoan Archive, box 93, folder 765.
154 Letter from the Eoan Group Trust to the Department of Coloured Affairs, 10 December 1965. Eoan Archive, box 33, folder 231.
155 Joseph Manca, Historical overview of Eoan’s activities from 1933-1968, p. 24. Eoan Archive, box 60, folder 494c.
Until 1965 the Eoan Group has had to finance itself from its own work and it has been and still is a very onerous undertaking to meet the growing financial requirements of an organisation such as the Eoan Group which in addition to being a Cultural Institution is also a welfare organisation. In this respect the Eoan Group is ‘unique’ and must be, if it is not already, one of the few organisations in the world which can present an annual opera season without financial subsidies. This can only be achieved due to the unselfish dedication of it Directors, Workers, Artists and members.156
It is clear from documentation in the archive that it had become impossible to meet the spiraling financial demands of an ambitious and ever growing opera company with the R2000 yearly grant from the City Council. Although the Eoan Group Trust was launched in order to raise funds for Eoan’s activities, solid financial support had not yet
materialized. The task of obtaining funds was still squarely in the hands of Manca and Sydow. The promised financial support from the community was also non-existent157 and during a special meeting at the end of 1965 Eoan decided to re-apply for financial
assistance from the Department of Coloured Affairs. From 1966 onwards Eoan was granted financial support and in so doing the group became further entangled in an ever tightening political web which, in retrospect, cost them dearly. The group also complied with apartheid regulations and annually applied for a permit to perform their opera season in the City Hall for mixed audiences, submitting to the political compromise they refused to make in 1957.158 Clause 17 of the conditions for receiving the funds stated the
following:
No mixed audience of Europeans and Non-Europeans shall be permitted. The following exposition has been accorded to this clause:-
i) An audience should be either European of Non-European.
ii) In special circumstances, an audience could consist of Europeans and non-Europeans, provided:
a) a specific section of the seating accommodation in the hall is reserved for Europeans and another section for Non-Europeans.
b) The floor of the hall is reserved for the one group and the gallery for the other.
iii) Where the seating accommodation is arranged in accordance with (ii) (a) or (b) above, separate entrances for the two groups should be provided.
iv) The conditions apply to any hall irrespective of the ownership thereof.
156 Ibid, p. 21. Eoan Archive, box 60, folder 494c.
157 See the Group’s decision made in 1957 in theMinutes of the 32nd AGM held on 29 September 1966, pp. 4-5, Eoan Archive, box 1, folder 3. Also Minutes of the 33rd AGM held on 8 December 1970, p. 6, Eoan Archive, box 2, folder 8.
158 See for example the permit issued to Eoan for its 1968 Opera Season. Eoan Archive, box 34, folder 233.
v) Generally a Non-European group may perform to a European audience in a generally accepted European area. Conversely a European group may play to a Non-European audience in a generally accepted Non-European Area. Exemption from this clause may be granted in cases where the Department is satisfied that good reason exists for doing so. vi) Prior approval must be obtained for any departure from rules (1) and (5).159
1966
District Six is declared a white area under the Group areas Act of 1950. Forced removals of the 60 000 inhabitants begin in 1968 and by 1982 all inhabitants had been moved to the
Cape Flats and their houses flattened by bulldozers.160
South Africa’s Prime Minister and architect of Apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, is assassinated on 6 September 1966.
In 1966 Eoan performed La Traviata as part of the Republic Festival in Cape Town, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Republic of South Africa.161 Manca described the event as follows:
As its contribution towards the celebration for the 1966 Republic Festival, the Eoan Group presented the Italian Opera La Traviata to an invited Non-White audience. This presentation was under the aegis of the Department of Coloured Affairs and the performance was graced with the presence of the Minister for Coloured Affairs, the Hon. Mr. Marais Viljoen who
159 Two further conditions in this document are indicative of the threatening tone that the Department of Coloured Affairs afforded itself:
- Clause 18. The Department further reserves the right to impose any other conditions in respect of grants as may in its discretion be deemed necessary.
- Clause 19. These conditions must be placed on the first page of your minute book or any other prominent place in order that it may be read, noticed and observed by office bearers of new office bearers.
See Conditions on which grants are awarded to voluntary organizations, p. 3. Eoan Archive, box