It must be seen as one of the minor miracles of operatic life in this country that Covent Garden managed to get by for well over a century with just two stagings of La bohème. This version was already of some vintage, tracing its ancestry back to the days of Melba and Caruso. It would serve the company for another twenty years before yielding to the classic production directed by John Copley in Julia Trevelyan Oman's designs - and that version continued a popular favourite for over forty years.
Emanuel Young is perhaps remembered more for his later time as a house conductor with the Royal Ballet than for his operatic work, but he was an excellent technician.
The Irish soprano Veronica Dunne had a considerable singing career before becoming a teacher of importance in Dublin. The Australian tenor John Lanigan spent almost his whole career in the Covent Garden company, enjoying several years in romantic leads before switching to a huge gallery of character parts.
Covent Garden Opera in Scotland - 1953
Week commencing Monday, 23 February: Mon 23 Aïda; Tue 24 Marriage of Figaro; Wed 25 Tristan and Isolde; Thu 26 Bohème; Fri 27 Masked Ball; Sat 28 m Bohème; Sat 28 e Trovatore.
Cast as advertised.
© Copyright Opera Scotland 2024
Site by SiteBuddha