The week commencing Monday, 3 April, saw the Carl Rosa's final visit to Edinburgh before the outbreak of World War Two. The company then moved to Glasgow King's for two weeks, playing the same operas. However the two Friday evenings in Glasgow saw the addition of single performances of A Masked Ball and La traviata.
The week's programme in Edinburgh was: Mon Cav & Pag; Tue Barber of Seville; Wed Gipsy Baron; Thu Rigoletto; Fri Madam Butterfly; Sat mat Fledermaus; Sat eve Faust.
The Glasgow schedule, including two Johann Strauss operettas, was as follows:
W/c 10 April: Mon Fledermaus; Tue Butterfly; Wed Faust; Thurs Rigoletto; Fri Masked Ball; Sat mat Gipsy Baron; Sat eve Barber of Seville.
W/c 17 April: Mon Cav & Pag; Tue Fledermaus; Wed Madam Butterfly; Thu Gipsy Baron; Fri Traviata; Sat mat Fledermaus; Sat eve Faust.
During this period, the Carl Rosa were including an extensive sequence of the ballet music.
The night after their performance of Rigoletto, some of the cast returned for a less well-known Verdi piece. The version used stuck to the 'Boston' characters traditionally used up to this point, with principals called Riccardo, Renato, Ulrica, Sam, Tom, and so on. This version disappeared from serious stages, at least in Britain, fairly quickly after the war. The Carl Rosa had not played the opera since the twenties, and seem to have used a new translation for this occasion.
The Maltese baritone Joseph Satariano would now be a regular member of the company. So would Ruth Packer, just back from a period training in Germany.
Cast details are from a programme in the A M Gardiner collection (Mitchell Library).
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