The Carl Rosa's Scottish tour at the beginning of 1922 was an unusually long one with 21 different operas on display. If the seven renderings of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci are regarded as fourteen shows, that totals 105 performances (instead of 98) over the fourteen weeks from 16 January to 22 April embracing five venues. It began in the north-east, with one week in Perth, two in Aberdeen and one in Dundee. There followed an eight week stay in Glasgow, almost a northern headquarters for the company, and two final weeks in Edinburgh.
The most frequently performed operas in the season were Samson and Delilah (11), Carmen (9) and Madam Butterfly (9). Four works received only a single outing - The Valkyrie (in Aberdeen) and Lily of Killarney, Bohème and Tosca in Glasgow.
The first week commencing Monday, 16 January, in Perth's delightfully intimate Edwardian auditorium, ran in this order: Mon Carmen; Tue Tales of Hoffmann, Wed Maritana, Thu Samson and Delilah, Fri Cav & Pag, Sat mat Madam Butterfly, Sat eve Il Trovatore.
In Aberdeen there were changes. Cav & Pag were dropped briefly, but the expanded repertoire saw the introduction of Bohemian Girl, Faust and Mignon, as well as some larger-scale works by Verdi (Aïda) and Wagner (Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Valkyrie).
Dundee had not been visited since 1919 when Her Majesty's became a cinema, but the King's was now available, at least until 1928, when it, too, was acquired by a cinema company. The schedule for the week in Dundee was a fairly standard digest of the existing repertoire - Mon Faust, Tue Carmen, Wed Cav & Pag, Thu Samson and Delilah, Fri Tannhäuser, Sat Mat Madam Butterfly, and Sat Eve Trovatore.
With eight weeks to fill, it was inevitable that as well as nearly all of the above, a number of works would appear that were not seen elsewhere. These included Lily of Killarney, Rigoletto, Mastersingers, Bohème and Tosca.
Maritana generally took its place in the Saturday evening slot - undemandingly familiar for an orchestra exhausted by so much new repertoire earlier in the week. The Scotsman of Monday, 24 April, having reported favourably on the matinee performance of Samson and Delilah, moved on to cover the evening:-
'At night the evergreen Maritana drew the customary large audience. Miss Maude Neilson made a charming Maritana, and Mr Gwynne Davies sang admirably as Don Caesar de Bazan, although in his portrayal of that broken-down aristocrat he missed something of the real humour of what can be made one of the best acting parts in the operatic repertory.
'The Lazarillo of Miss Gladys Parr was delightfully boyish, and the performance as a whole contained nothing that was more artistic than her singing of ''Alas, Those Chimes.'' Mr Kingsley Lark's Don José was enjoyable, alike in its singing and its acting, and Mr Frederick Clendon as the King was as effective as in everything he undertakes. Mr Orlando M Mabbott conducted.
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