Balfe's final opera had not been revived since its original production was brought to Glasgow in 1874. The Carl Rosa company was, at this point, willing and able to spend money on lavish sets and costumes, and the production looked good. The conductor even composed some ballet music to complete the one aspect of grand opera that Balfe himself had omitted. The cast is a strong one, though less exalted than the 1874 version. The question seems to have remained over whether Balfe was as suited to this form as to the style of his still wildly popular ballad opera The Bohemian Girl.
The character of Nectabanus is here described simply as a slave - perhaps, having cast the strapping baritone Alec Marsh in the part, management decided that to describe him as a dwarf would stretch audience credulity and strain his acting abilities.
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