Il Trittico in Scotland
Puccini's Trittico has so far only received a single complete performance in Scotland. This was at the Glasgow King's on 24 April 1957. The Theatre Royal was no longer available, having been taken over by STV as its main studio for the next twenty years or so. This was the first visit to Scotland by Sadler's Wells Opera since the war, and in addition to Glasgow they also visited Aberdeen and Dundee, though the triple bill was not seen north of the central belt.
This occasion was also the...
Posted 15 Jan 2023 | Comments
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Massenet in Scotland
Jules Massenet was a highly successful composer with some twenty-eight operas to his credit. It may therefore seem surprising that only eight of them have been performed in Scotland. And as we have noted, even those have not all been performed professionally.
Manon
The first opera by Massenet to be seen in Scotland was Manon, given by the Carl Rosa company at the Edinburgh Lyceum on 11 November 1885. It was seen at Glasgow Grand the following week. The Carl Rosa had given its UK premiere...
Posted 4 Aug 2022 | Comments
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Candide in Scotland
Candide received its first production in Scotland at the 1981 Edinburgh International Festival, opening on 19 August.
The Birmingham Rep company, led by their director Clive Perry, who had previously run Edinburgh's theatres, were making their second visit to the Festival. They performed again at the Church of Scotland's Assembly Hall on the Mound, a favourite venue during the first half-century of the Festival's existence.
The Assembly Hall was usually the host to classic theatre...
Posted 9 Jul 2022 | Comments
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Don Giovanni in Scotland
Mozart's operas generally came late to Britain. The first performance here of Don Giovanni, sung in Italian, was at His Majesty's Theatre, London, on 12 April 1817. Immediately the opera proved immensely popular, and had an extended run. An English version was given on 20 May 1817 at Covent Garden.
Just over a year later, on 9 September 1818, it was being performed in Edinburgh's Pantheon, in a one act form in Italian with well-known singers Madame Fodor, Signora Corri and Signor Angrisani....
Posted 20 Apr 2022 | Comments
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