Opera Scotland

Cenerentola 1966Scottish Opera for All

Read more about the opera Cenerentola

The first tour of Opera For All under the management of Scottish Opera took place in the autumn of 1966, so the UK was now covered by three companies taking a repertoire of works with piano accompaniment to outlying parts of the nation. Following the pattern successfully established elsewhere, this tour took three operas, giving 42 performances between the end of September and early December. The works were Così fan tutte (12 times), Madama Butterfly (17) and La cenerentola (13).

The thirteen performances of the Rossini were as follows: 28 Sep (Keswick), 8 Oct (Sedbergh), 11 Oct (South Shields), 19 Oct (Blyth), 25 Oct (Rowland's Gill), 31 Oct (Ulverston), 2 Nov (Lancaster), 12 Nov (Beith), 14 Nov (Oban), 17 Nov (Auchinleck), 21 Nov (Callander), 2 Dec (Aberdeen), 6 Dec (Hawick).

Of the singers, perhaps the most notable name is Richard Van Allan - his career developed rapidly, and he rarely returned to work in Scotland, very much our loss. Magnifico and Alfonso are roles he sang regularly in his later career. When the company launched its first full-scale production of Cinderella in 1969 and 1970, Ronald Morrison and John Graham repeated their roles at every performance, while Josephte Clément and Sheila McGrow also sang a few times. Along with John Robertson they would have been on duty as cover if required.

Cast details are from our copy of the tour programme, which also covered the second phase of the season, from mid-January to mid-March 1967.