University College Opera The brainchild of the conductor Anthony Addison, (UCL's then Director of Music), University College Opera gave its first performance in 1951 with an all-student production of Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas", followed by Mozart's "Bastien und Bastienne". Even in its earliest years, the company's annual repertoire concentrated on rarely performed operas including: Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (1952), Bizet's "Don Procopio" (1955) and Lortzing's "Der Wildschütz" (1958). In 1961, the company staged its first UK premiere, Moniuszko's "Halka". During its first 17 years, UCOpera's performances took place in the old gymnasium at University College. With the opening of the college's
What Men Live By (opera) required. What Men Live By (opera) What Men Live By ("Čím člověk žije" in Czech) is an opera in one act by Bohuslav Martinů to an English libretto by the composer, based on "Where Love Is, There God Is Also" (1885) by Leo Tolstoy, though he chose to use the more universal title of a different Tolstoy story "What Men Live By" (1886). It was composed in 1951-1952 when the composer was living in the U.S.A, and described by him as a 'pastoral-opera'. The opera was premiered as a television broadcast in New York in May 1953. The first staged