Opera Scotland

Carmen 1930Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Carmen

During the Scottish leg of the tour, two performances of Cav & Pag were given. The remaining performances involved fourteen different operas.

 

The Edinburgh View

The Scotsman review (Thursday 17 April) of the previous evening referred to Miss Rispah Goodacre:

'one of the most important additions to the Carl Rosa ranks of recent years, gave a performance of the title role which held the attention captive throughout. She has a beautiful contralto voice, which she employs in an entirely artistic fashion, and she is a born actress. Hers is a capricious Carmen,, with a fine but never overdone suggestion of passion, and throughout consistently graceful. From her first entrance, to the tragic climax, her reading of the part was always convincing, while her singing was equally true. Miss Goodacre is at present the best Carmen in this country; it would certainly be difficult to mention another singer of the same all-round merit in the role.

'Mr Ben Williams made a romantic Don José. It was an excellent study, and his pure, flexible voice was seen to great advantage. Mr Leslie Jones was a fine Escamillo, and the Micaela of Miss Audrey Mildmay, a newcomer since the company was last in Edinburgh, was a grateful and sympathetic interpretation.'

 

The 1930 Carl Rosa Tour

The Carl Rosa's Scottish tour in spring 1930 began on 24 March and consisted of three weeks in Glasgow (Theatre Royal) and one in Edinburgh (Lyceum).

The performances were as follows:-

Glasgow, w/c 24 March: Mon 24 Trovatore; Tue 25 Cav & Pag; Wed 26 Flying Dutchman; Thu 27 Hansel and Gretel; Fri 28 Messalina; Sat 29 mat Butterfly: Sat 29 eve Faust.

Glasgow, w/c 31 March: Mon 31 Flying Dutchman; Tue 1 Apr Carmen; Wed 2 Rhinegold; Thu 3 Tales of Hoffmann; Fri 4 Bohème; Sat 5 mat Hansel and Gretel; Sat 5 eve Maritana.

Glasgow, w/c 7 April: Mon 7 Tannhäuser; Tue 8 Butterfly; Wed 9 Siegfried; Thu 10 Cav & Pag; Fri 11 Rigoletto; Sat 12 mat Flying Dutchman; Sat 13 eve Carmen.

Edinburgh, w/c 14 April: Mon 14 Butterfly; Tue 15 Rigoletto; Wed 16 Carmen; Thu 17 Faust; Fri 18 Flying Dutchman; Sat 19 mat Hansel and Gretel; Sat 19 eve Trovatore.