The 1955 Edinburgh season by the Glyndebourne Opera consisted of three masterpieces of the Italian repertoire. Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia and Verdi's Falstaff were generally acknowledged as such. Perhaps the jury was still out on an earlier Verdi piece, La forza del destino, but this revival certainly helped to establish it.
Giulini might seem an obvious choice (if available) to conduct a new production of Falstaff. However this was his first appearance with Glyndebourne and he was originally booked to conduct the other, more melodramatic, Verdi work in the schedule. He only transferred across when Vittorio Gui's health prevented his working that summer. Forza was taken on by John Pritchard. Gui's other opera, Barbiere, was conducted by Alberto Erede.
Corena was at the height of his powers as a comic bass-baritone, and most of the Italian cast members fitted in well. The familiar lyric tenor Juan Oncina was replaced at one performance as Fenton by the young Australian Kevin Miller. This debut led to a host of appearances over the next couple of decades.
Glyndebourne has always been a training ground for notable young singers. This year was no exception, with names including Heather Harper, Patricia Kern, Kevin Miller, Leon Green and David Kelly.
Kevin Miller (Aug 29)
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