Opera Scotland

Lucia di Lammermoor 1972Scottish Opera for All

Read more about the opera Lucia di Lammermoor

This production of Lucia, along with The Fair Maid of Perth, had opened in October 1971 to commemorate the bicentenary of Sir Walter Scott's birth. The existing Cinderella staging had been revived for a further run. The initial performances were all in Scotland, but from late January to early March 1972 they crossed the border, covering the Northeast and East Midlands, with a dash down to Canterbury for three nights included for good measure.

The cast, largely of in-house singers, was quite remarkable, with early appearances by both Malcolm Donnelly and Dennis O'Neill, directed by David Pountney. The extent of the doubling of roles varied. On the first tour, Dennis O'Neill only sang Arturo, taking on Edgardo and alternating only in the autumn. By contrast, according to Richard Telfer's notes the two sopranos alternated in the first cast, though mezzo Moyra Paterson was singing Cinderella and Mab on the other evenings. Certainly in the autumn a different singer came in as Alisa. This must all have been rather demanding if illness ever prevented a singer from going on. Did one artist have to sing both parts on the same evening? Presumably the Sextet would became a quintet.

1972 tour dates (nine in the first part) were as follows: 10 Jan (Duns), 14 Jan (Dumbarton), 15 Jan (Alloa), 26 Jan (Keswick), 31 Jan (Brandon), 4 Feb (Whitby), 10 Feb (Leicester), 17 Feb (Canterbury), 3 March (Soham). The autumn tour had some cast changes and visited only five venues: 9 Nov (Anstruther), 15 Nov ('Fife'), 15 Nov (Kilmarnock), 21 Nov (Grangemouth) and 5 Dec (Forres). It continued from January through to early March, but performances of Lucia were far scarcer than the new stagings of Rigoletto and Count Ory.

Cast details and tour dates are from the Richard Telfer collection in Scottish Opera's archives.