Opera Scotland

Falstaff 1976Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Falstaff

The first Theatre Royal subscription season (1975-76) contained ten operas in total, played in sequence. The gala Fledermaus was followed by short runs of Otello, Hermiston, Ariadne on Naxos, Così fan tutte, The Golden Cockerel, Die Fledermaus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly and Falstaff. The Otello had been seen regularly since 1963, the Falstaff only once before, in 1966. Fledermaus had been launched during the summer while Hermiston had been premiered at the recent Edinburgh Festival - both were previously unseen in Glasgow. The only productions that were brand new were Ariadne and Rimsky-Korsakov's Golden Cockerel, unseen in Scotland for half a century, and only occasionally since then at Covent Garden.

This was a first, and long overdue, revival of Peter Ebert’s production, originally given in 1966 and marking Geraint Evans’s only appearances with the company. Sesto Bruscantini, having sung Ford with the Glyndebourne company at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival in Carl Ebert’s production, moved to the title role directed by Ebert’s son. The run ended with a concert performance at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall.

Performance Cast

Sir John Falstaff a knight

Sesto Bruscantini

Pistola Pistol, a follower of Falstaff

William McCue

Bardolfo Bardolph, a follower of Falstaff

David Fieldsend

Caius Dr Caius, a Frenchman

John Robertson

Meg Mistress Page

Claire Livingstone

Alice Mistress Alice Ford, wife of Ford

Catherine Wilson

Nannetta daughter of the Fords

Glenys Fowles

Quickly Mistress Quickly, a confidante of Alice and Meg

Elizabeth Bainbridge

Ford a merchant of Windsor

John Shaw

Fenton a young gentleman

Richard Greager

Performance DatesFalstaff 1976

Map List

Theatre Royal, Glasgow | Glasgow

18 Feb, 19.15 21 Feb, 19.15 24 Feb, 19.15 26 Feb, 19.15

King's Theatre, Edinburgh | Edinburgh

4 May, 19.00 11 May, 19.00 15 May, 19.00

Theatre Royal, Newcastle | Newcastle-upon-Tyne

27 May, 19.15 29 May, 19.15

His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen | Aberdeen

3 Jun, 19.15 5 Jun, 19.15

Royal Albert Hall | London

13 Aug, 19.30

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