Opera Scotland

Trovatore 1924Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Trovatore

The Carl Rosa company was in the habit of coming to Scotland in February and running its tour through the early spring. In early 1924, from 28 January to 19 April they toured Aberdeen, Perth, Greenock, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scotsman of Tuesday, 1 April gives an abbreviated cast list for Monday, 31 March at Glasgow Theatre Royal.

To arrive in Dundee on 22 December 1924 was unusual. To stay for a two week season even more so (indeed a unique event in the history of Carl Rosa performances in Dundee). In that era Christmas Day was not a holiday, and the company mounted a performance of Il Trovatore. On New Year's Day, Maritana was on offer. Unusual works being presented were La Traviata, Marriage of Figaro and Fidelio. This fortnight in Dundee was not connected to visits to the other Scottish centres, as they left Dundee after Saturday, 3 January 1925, reappearing in Glasgow on 9 March.

Repertoire for the two Dundee weeks was as follows:

First Week: Mon Carmen, Tue Tannhäuser, Wed Tales of Hoffmann, Thu (Christmas Day) Trovatore, Fri Traviata, Sat Mat Faust, Sat Eve Bohemian Girl.

Second Week: Mon Aïda, Tue Butterfly, Wed Marriage of Figaro, Thu (New Year's Day) Maritana, Fri Fidelio, Sat Mat Samson & Delilah, Sat Eve Faust.

Christmas Day of 1924 fell on a Thursday, a fact of no significance given that it was not a Sunday, when the theatres would have remained closed. The decision to perform Verdi's gory but irrepressibly tuneful masterpiece perhaps seems surprising for such a day, but the audience was no doubt in the mood for enjoyment. This cast is as reviewed in the Dundee newspapers of Boxing Day.