Opera Scotland

Sadler's Wells Opera

Posted 20 Apr 2011

Sadler's Wells Opera. (SWO), renamed English National Opera (ENO) in 1974, used to tour Scotland on a regular basis, providing Scottish audiences with some memorable performances.

During the war, Joan Cross took a troupe to a number of factory towns in the North West from the Vic-Wells base in Burnley. It was then that they made their first Scottish visits (to Glasgow and Edinburgh) performing in 1941, 1942 and 1944. The stagings were naturally very limited but by all accounts were well received. In Glasgow in March 1941 Madam Butterfly was played to the sound of the Luftwaffe bombing Clydebank.