Opera Scotland

Madam Butterfly 1958Touring Opera 58

Read more about the opera Madama Butterfly

This little documented organisation was formed "in association with the Arts Council of Great Britain" and toured for a season with artists from the defunct Carl Rosa company, which had always been refused significant Arts Council support. It claimed a company of 130 - eighty artists  and fifty musicians. Sadler's Wells were also visiting Scotland by now, though usually in the spring.

The Scottish tour, starting on 22 September, consisted of only two weeks, one in Glasgow and one in Aberdeen. The repertoire held few surprises:

Glasgow Mon, Barber; Tue Bartered Bride; Wed Cav & Pag; Thu Carmen; Fri Don Giovanni; Sat mat Barber; Sat eve Bartered Bride.

Aberdeen Mon Bartered Bride; Tue Carmen; Wed Barber; Thu Butterfly; Fri Don Giovanni; Sat mat Carmen; Sat eve Cav & Pag.

The Australian soprano Marie Collier was one of the great personalities in the British operatic world during her short life. In the sixties she was a star at both Sadler's Wells (as Butterfly and Emilia Marty) and at Covent Garden, where her roles included Tosca, Santuzza and Manon Lescaut. It is good to find that two of those roles, Butterfly and Santuzza, were performed on her infrequent visits to Scotland.