This production had been delayed a couple of seasons because of financial constraints, and the initial Welsh staging had gained from the uniquely impressive reading of Emilia Marty by Elisabeth Söderström. But Catherine Wilson soon made the part her own. Thomas Hemsley and Peter van der Bilt also gave magnetic interpretations. Altogether this was an excellent company performance, with detailed character studies from John Robertson, Una Buchanan and Nigel Douglas. Mark Hamilton, making his only appearance with the company, was excellent as a youthful Gregor. Donald Maxwell and Nuala Willis made the most of their brief appearance, and Linda Ormiston made her first appearance in Makropulos - her second would be thirty years later as the Charlady at the Salzburg Festival.
Armstrong and Pountney kept a tight grip on the whole show, which was still quite unfamiliar in Scotland - after all, the Czechs had only given it two performances in 1970, and the famous Sadler's Wells production with Marie Collier never toured north of the border.
Further dates to be added.
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