Founded in 1930 by British baritone and impresario Frederick Woodhouse, the company was established with the professed aim of reviving forgotten chamber operas of the past.
Most of the company's productions were produced on a smaller scale, using only piano accompaniment, costumes, minimal sets, and no props.
The company later took that production, along with a dozen other operas, across the Atlantic to Broadway's Little Theatre in 1938.
[2] In 1936 the company staged the world premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Poisoned Kiss at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, conducted by Cyril Rootham.
In 1952 conductor and composer Antony Hopkins succeeded Woodhouse as the company's Artistic Director.