Opera Scotland

Entführung aus dem Serail 1917Beecham Grand Opera Company

Read more about the opera Seraglio

Sir Thomas Beecham's Grand Opera Company spent the three weeks commencing 5 March 1917 in Edinburgh during the course of a national tour.

The Edinburgh schedule was as follows:

First week: Mon Aïda; Tue Louise; Wed Bohème; Thu Tristan; Fri Boris Godunov; Sat mat Cav & Pag; Sat eve Butterfly.

Second week: Mon Seraglio; Tue Samson & Delilah; Wed mat Bohème; Wed eve Tristan; Thu Tosca; Fri Aïda; Sat mat Butterfly; Sat eve Boris Godunov.

Third week: Mon Magic Flute; Tue Otello; Wed mat Samson & Delilah; Wed eve Bohème; Thu Girl of the Golden West; Fri Faust; Sat mat Magic Flute; Sat eve Cav & Pag.

Sir Thomas Beecham seems to have had a particularly soft spot for Mozart's two great singspiels. He famously recorded The Magic Flute in 1937 in Berlin. His recording of Seraglio was made very near the end of his career, in 1956, and still sounds excellent, in spite of the transformation in performing style of recent decades. He first introduced the piece to his company in 1910, using a translation in which the work of the late Rev John Troutbeck, a Victorian cleric, was adapted by Percy Greenbank, a successful purveyor of lyrics for musical comedies.

Cast details are from a review in The Scotsman.