Opera Scotland

Otello 1892Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Otello

Verdi's supreme late tragedy here received its first performances in Scotland. It seems that Zélie de Lussan, having caught cold the previous week on the train down from a command performance at Balmoral, had only just recovered in time. 

For the first performance, Glasgow's Theatre Royal "was quite filled in all parts" and the Herald reviewer commented that "we cannot speak in terms of unqualified praise", saying that although de Lussan sang as well as ever, her conception of the part 'lacked gentleness and grace'.

But the other principals were generally praised, Miss Meisslinger too, and "the opera was mounted with requisite scenic fullness"