Opera Scotland

Gipsy Baron 1939Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Gipsy Baron

The Scotsman review (6 April) mentioned the capital cast, saying 'the various ensembles were well managed, and the chorus sang with fine effect.  There is scope in the opera for the ballet, and the Carl Rosa dancers appeared with delightful effect... it is one of the merits of the Carl Rosa performances that the orchestra is always so good...under the direction of Mr Charles Webber, the opera as a whole was given with the sparkle which music of its type demands.'

A programme for the performance in Glasgow on 15 April, a Saturday matinee, is archived in the National Library of Scotland.  It lists three gypsies as Norman Jones, Cecil Lloyd and William Lewis.

The programme for the Scottish visit was:

First week (Edinburgh), w/c 3 April was:  Mon 3 Cav & Pag;  Tue 4  Barber of Seville;  Wed 5 Gipsy Baron;  Thu 6 Rigoletto;  Fri 7 Madam Butterfly;  Sat 8 mat Fledermaus;  Sat 8 eve Faust.

Charles Webber spent several years in German opera houses early in his career, so will have gained familiarity with  'Viennese' operettas that were not yet well known in Britain.  With Die Fledermaus successfully established, a second Johann Strauss operetta was introduced to Glasgow: 

Second week (Glasgow), w/c 10 April:  Mon 10 Fledermaus;  Tue 11 Butterfly;  Wed 12 Faust;  Thu 13 Rigoletto;  Fri 14 Masked Ball;  Sat 15 mat Gipsy Baron;  Sat 15 eve Barber of Seville.

Third week (Glasgow), w/c 17 April:  Mon 17 Cav & Pag;  Tue 18 Fledermaus;  Wed 19 Madam Butterfly;  Thu 20 Gipsy Baron;  Fri 21 Traviata;  Sat 22 mat Fledermaus;  Sat 22 eve Faust.

The two baritones, Kingsley Lark and Hubert Dunkerley, sang with the Carl Rosa company over many years.  It is perhaps more unusual to see them here singing different parts in the same work.  During this period, the Carl Rosa were including an extensive sequence of ballet music.