Thi was the first performance of Rigoletto in Scotland, some fourteen years after it came to London. Madame Lancia's Grand English Opera Company made an extensive tour of the British Isles through the second half of 1867. The itinerary included Birmingham at the end of June. By September they were in Leeds, October in Sheffield. Other stops are to be confirmed, but for three nights at the end of December, after the Glasgow visit, they were the first company to perform at the newly renovated theatre in Cork, which had been closed for two years.
They came to Glasgow for a two week season at the Royal Colosseum. This huge new theatre had only opened on 28 November, and stood on the site of the present Theatre Royal. After a commercially difficult couple of years that important name was adopted following the demolition of the old Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street, which had made way for St Enoch's Station (on the south side of Argyll Street).
Other operas performed elsewhere on the tour, though not in Glasgow, included Lurline (Wallace), Satanella (Balfe) and The Crown Diamonds (Auber).
After the opera, the company usually concluded the entertainment with a short opera, play or farce such as The Waterman (Dibdin), The Wandering Minstrel, The Two Poles or My Precious Betsy.
The company seem not to have appeared in Scotland again. No programmes have yet been traced, and attempts to piece together casts from press reviews and advertisements have proved difficult. The abbreviated cast given below is derived from reports of performances at other venues, which seem to be consistent.
Florence Lancia's company in Glasgow 1867
The programme in Glasgow was largely of popular favourites. However two of Verdi's middle period masterpieces, the wildly popular Trovatore and still controversial Traviata, were now joined by Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera, both receiving their Scottish premieres.
Week commencing 9 December: Mon 9 Trovatore; Tue 10 Sonnambula; Wed 11 Rigoletto; Thu 12 Bohemian Girl; Fri 13 Un ballo in maschera; Sat 14 Maritana.
Week commencing 16 December: Mon 16 Faust; Tue 17 Traviata; Wed 18 Don Giovanni; Thu 19 Barber of Seville; Fri 20 Trovatore; Sat 21 Bohemian Girl.
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