Opera Scotland

Bohemian Girl 1922Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Bohemian Girl

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.

 

Cast details for Saturday evening, 25 February, are from a brief review in Monday's Glasgow Herald:- 'In the evening The Bohemian Girl was played to a crowded house. Miss Maude Neilson, who has shown her fine technique and beautiful quality of voice in florid music, sang the ballads of Arline with sweetness and charm, and among others who contributed to the successful performance of Balfe's old opera were Mr Horace Voncent (Thaddeus), Mr Harry Brindle (Count Arnheim), and Miss Gladys Parr (Queen of the Gipsies). Mr Orlando M Mabbott conducted.'

The Scotsman of Monday, 13 March gives a brief description of the previous Saturday performance - 'The Carl Rosa Opera Company concluded the fourth week of their engagement at the Theatre-Royal, Glasgow, on Saturday evening, with a masterly performance of the Bohemian Girl, in which Miss Gladys Cranston, Miss Gladys Parr, Mr Booth Hitchen, and Mr Horace Vincent assumed the leading parts, and sang and acted with marked ability. Chorus and ballet were also praiseworthy, as well as the orchestra, under the conductorship of Mr Orlando M Mabbott.'