Perhaps surprisingly, Rigoletto was the sole Verdi work included on this tour under the management of Eugene Iskoldoff and Peter Daubeny. There were three Puccini works (Bohème, Tosca, Butterfly) plus Cav and Pag.
The tour began in September, with five weeks at the Palace Theatre in London. The provincial tour was the same length, with two weeks in Manchester and Glasgow, separated by a single week in Newcastle.
These cast details are from a programme of the Glasgow visit. Identical details for the six principal parts (Duke, Rigoletto, Gilda, Monterone, Sparafucile and Maddalena) are from Opera, for a London performance on 3 October, not much liked with the exception of Anna di Stasio's Maddalena. She returned to Scotland subsequently for Edinburgh Festival visits of the Naples (1963) and Florence (1969) companies. Baritone Augusto Frati was also a member of the ensemble for those two visits.
The Iskoldoff Italian Opera Company in Glasgow - 1955
The six operas presented were from the core of the Italian repertoire, represented by Verdi (Rigoletto); Leoncavallo (Pagliacci); Puccini (Bohème, Tosca, Madam Butterfly) and Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana),
The performance schedule at the King's Theatre, Glasgow, was:
W/c Monday, 21 November; Mon 21 Bohème; Tue 22 Cav & Pag; Wed 23 m Bohème; Wed 23 e Madam Butterfly; Thu 24 Rigoletto; Fri 25 Tosca; Sat 26 m Madam Butterfly; Sat 26 e Rigoletto.
W/c Monday, 28 November: Mon 28 Tosca; Tue 29 Bohème; Wed 30 m Tosca; Wed 30 e Rigoletto; Thu 1 Dec Cav & Pag; Fri 2 Madam Butterfly; Sat 3 m Cav & Pag; Sat 3 e Bohème.
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