Opera Scotland

Lucia di Lammermoor 1961Covent Garden Opera

Read more about the opera Lucia di Lammermoor

This was the historically important 1959 Zeffirelli production, with Sutherland early in the international phase of her career.

Unsurprisingly the staging, designed for the wide open spaces of Covent Garden, was rather cramped in the King’s, but still highly memorable.

Sutherland was renowned throughout her career for her great reliability, very rarely cancelling a performance. However, she was ill on this occasion, and the second last performance (on Sep 7) was replaced with a repeat of The Barber. For the final performance, the French soprano Mady Mesplé was brought in as a substitute.

Of the other singers, the Australian John Shaw and French-Canadians Joseph Rouleau and André Turp all returned to sing with Scottish Opera many times.

Margreta Elkins, a contemporary and friend of Sutherland, divided her career between Britain and Australia.

Kenneth Macdonald, born on Iona, spent his career at Covent Garden, where he concentrated on character and high-lying tenor roles such as the Astrologer in The Golden Cockerel. Earlier, he had appeared with amateur companies in Scotland, singing romantic roles such as Radamès.

Sir John Pritchard also came to Edinburgh with the Glyndebourne company, and, near the end of his career, the Cologne Opera, of which he was Director.