Opera Scotland

Rienzi 1909Moody-Manners Opera Company

Read more about the opera Rienzi

It was fifteen years since Carl Rosa had brought Rienzi on its only previous trip to Scotland. This seems to be the only attempt Moody-Manners made to stage it, and it does not seem to have been seen here since.

There are lots of good things in the opera, not just the well-known overture, but it is extremely challenging to perform effectively. The title role is likely to exhaust all but the toughest tenors.  Brozel, like McGuckin before him, was highly versatile, but may have been slightly over-ambitious here.

Cast details are from a programme in the Weir collection, National Library of Scotland.