Opera Scotland

Sonnambula 1855Mr Beale's Italian Opera Company

Read more about the opera Sonnambula

This company gave six performances. At Glasgow's Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, they presented Lucrezia Borgia, La sonnambula and Norma. They then decamped to the Edinburgh Theatre Royal, performing the same works in sequence over Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The only change in the programme is that in Glasgow the tensions generated by Norma were relieved by an afterpiece in the form of an act of Il barbiere di Siviglia. This seems to have been the original plan for Edinburgh, but when Mario was prevailed upon to appear in Norma, the afterpiece was changed to an act from Sonnambula. Musical entertainment between the acts was provided by a Hungarian virtuoso pianist, George Lichtenstein.

The Glasgow Sentinel of Saturday 29 September records that 'A large turnout of the rank and fashion of the city' greeted them on opening night. The undoubted stars of the company were the veteran husband and wife pairing of Grisi and Mario. While only in their mid-forties, their careers and been arduous and it was recognised that their voices were no longer fresh. The Gassiers may have been a less exalted couple, but were also rather younger.