September was not seen as the ideal time for an opera company to visit Edinburgh, as the 'season' had not yet got under way, and many of the regular potential audience members must still have been away at their country estates, or even abroad. The theatre would be difficult to fill. Nevertheless, one of the opera stars of the time, the young soprano Marietta Piccolomini, who had previously enjoyed success in the city, was about to sail on her first visit to the USA. She had therefore embarked on a 'farewell tour' of the UK, supported by singers from Benjamin Lumley's company at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It was only to be expected that the local theatrical management, led by Mr R H Wyndham, of 95 Prince's Street, would secure a visit. The company was small - a chorus of a dozen voices, with an orchestra not much bigger. No conductor has been identified as yet.
There was only time for four operatic performances in total, three at the Queen's Theatre in Edinburgh, with a fourth at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. They would then, presumably, embark for the Atlantic crossing. The Edinburgh schedule was: Mon 20 Sep Il trovatore; Tue 21 Sep La traviata; Wed 22 Sep La figlia del reggimento (for Donizetti's frothy French comedy was given in Italian). The following day, the company took the train to Glasgow, where the advertised performance of Il trovatore was scheduled for the evening of Thu 23 Sep. However the company's dramatic tenor, Antonio Giuglini, had developed a cold after singing in Traviata. While just able to nurse his voice through the short concert that followed the Donizetti, to sing Manrico was out of the question. A second performance of Donizetti's genial comedy was therefore substituted.
The critics of this era would have been extremely surprised to learn that La traviata would become one of the most popular of all operas. They were generally unimpressed, the Caledonian Mercury quite dismissive - 'As music, it is scarcely worth notice; being, with the exception of three or four pieces, mere ''sound and fury, signifying nothing.'' It is to be hoped that the time is not far distant when the Verdi fever will subside, and give place to a healthier state of things. We cannot help thinking that the public only requires to have good music properly placed before it to respond with the requisite encouragement.'
Of Piccolomini the Mercury declared - 'She is, though not a great singer, a very good actress, pleasing and fascinating from graceful abandon and an occasional concentration of purpose about her impersonation which captivates her audience for the time, though we doubt whether most auditors may not afterwards, when removed from the ''spell,'' wonder that they applauded so vehemently while under the influence of her presence.........The conclusion of the opera, more especially as portrayed last night, caught the sympathies of the audience, and Piccolomini left the stage loaded with bouquets of exquisite flowers.'
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