The Carl Rosa conmpany continued to tour the country throughout the war, generally drawing packed houses and building up tremendous goodwill. At a time when air raids were a nightly occurrence, theatre programmes did make reference to the events. 'Special Attention is drawn to ARP recommendation on Page 3' - This left it up to audience members whether, in the event of a warning, they left the theatre to seek shelter.
Management put in its own encouraging notice: 'You are much safer in the theatre than in the streets. Keep calm! Keep smiling. The worst rarely happens.'
This Trovatore has a couple of unusual features. Verdi did compose a sequence of ballet music for performance in Paris. It is hardly ever performed, but the Carl Rosa had exhumed it the previous year to beef up the dance element of Traviata. Presumably the music made enough of an impression for them to experiment with it in its original place, including a 'Gypsy Scena' in the second act.
The second feature worthy of comment is the appearance of the lyric tenor Ivor John. He was not Manrico, a role that would have stretched his voice far beyond its comfort zone, Having sung Almaviva the night before, he now took to the conductor's rostrum.
Cast details are from a copy of the programme for 14 March in the Gardiner Collection (Mitchell Library). It also has information on the previous evening's Barber.
The tour consisted of one week at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh then two at the King's Theatre, Glasgow.
Mon 4 Mar Traviata; Tue Fledermaus; Wed Cav and Pag; Thu Barber of Seville; Fri Rigoletto; Sat mat Faust; Sat evg Trovatore.
Mon 11 Mar Traviata; Tue Cav and Pag; Wed Barber of Seville; Thu Trovatore; Fri Rigoletto; Sat m Fledermaus; Sat e Faust.
Mon 18 Mar Fledermaus; Tue Traviata; Wed Cav and Pag Thu Rigoletto; Fri Faust; Sat m Barber of Seville; Sat e Trovatore.
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