Opera Scotland

Carmen 1880Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Carmen

Carmen was already hugely popular with the public, though critics were still not entirely unanimous. On this occasion, John Pew stood in at short notice for Carl Rosa as conductor. Perhaps of greater importance was the seemingly strange casting of the lyric-coloratura soprano Georgina Burns in the usually mezzo loaded title role. Fred Packard, forced to withdraw from Taming oif the Shrew earlier in the week, was still not back to his usual form.