This Rigoletto marked a great step forward for Tayside Opera, moving into the much larger Whitehall Theatre, and having no difficulty filling it. Also well filled was the compact orchestra pit, with thirty-two players producing a superbly dramatic effect when required by conductor Richard Evans. A unit set was designed to operate on a revolve, allowing rapid changes of scene - a design scheme that Rigoletto seems to encounter more frequently than other operas.
The cast introduced a professional tenor in Geoffrey Shovelton, who had toured with the Scottish division of Opera for All the previous season, in Lucia di Lammermoor, Fair Maid of Perth and Cinderella. His local appearances then had included Perth, Forfar and Arbroath, though not Dundee. The last occasion when a professional had joined the amateurs was in 1958 when Dundee Operatic had imported Gwent Lewis to sing Faust at the Gaumont, supported by the not insubstantial figure of David Ward as Méphistophélès. This Rigoletto cast included two local veterans of that productions, when Ian Mortimer and Doris Henderson had sung Wagner and Marthe.
A notable newcomer to the company was Perth baritone Donald Maxwell as Monterone. His professional debut was still some years away, but his delivery of the curse, 'stentorian' and 'shattering' according to the Courier, showed his promise - indeed Monterone was a role he would repeat after he joined Scottish Opera.
Cast details from the Courier review will be supplemented in due course.
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