Opera Scotland

Fra Diavolo 1893Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Fra Diavolo

Monday November 13 saw the Carl Rosa company give its second Command Performance at Balmoral, following the great success of the previous year's visit with The Daughter of the Regiment. This time there was no disruption to the schedule, since nobody caught cold on the journey. Zélie de Lussan seems to have been a royal favourite, since she performed on both Balmoral occasions, as well as when they gave Carmen at Windsor.

The familiar translation was used, with the Cockburns becoming Lord and Lady Allcash. At both performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the company provided a diversion by repeating some of the ceremonial introduced for the Balmoral evening. This included a pair of Beefeaters guarding the front of the stage (though quite what Beefeaters were doing at Balmoral in any case was not explained).