Opera Scotland

Aïda 1955Dundee Operatic Society

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For its 1955 season, Dundee Operatic as usual provided an opera and a musical on alternate nights, with Verdi being supplemented by the early Rodgers and Hammerstein success, Oklahoma!, hugely popular at the time. With the exception of Radamès, all the soloists were local. Kenneth Macdonald, Iona-born, spent most of his career based at Covent Garden, but in the fifties he sang a number of major roles with Scottish amateur groups. Perhaps most surprising is the appearance of veteran Mr T C Fairbairn as Director - he had filled the same role with professional companies before the First World War, as well as singing a bit.