The three-week 1962 Scottish tour began on 1 October at the Edinburgh King's, followed by Aberdeen then Glasgow - that week unusually being at the Glasgow Empire. The schedule for the Aberdeen week was: Mon Bartered Bride; Tue Tosca; Wed Rigoletto; Thu Bartered Bride; Fri Magic Flute; Sat mat & eve Iolanthe. The other venues saw the same operas, usually in a slightly different order.
Dennis Arundell's successful production of Tosca had been new when it first came to Scotland eighteen months before. On this return visit, the three leading principals, Victoria Elliott, Charles Craig and Peter Glossop, were unchanged. Everyone else was different, including the conductor. with the veteran Warwick Braithwaite succeeded by a younger man - also a New Zealander, John Matheson. Derek Hammond Stroud, a renowned character performer, kept the Sacristan in his repertoire, and repeated it many times at Covent Garden in revivals of the famous Zeffirelli staging.
Cast details are from a programme in Aberdeen City Library.
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