Opera Scotland

Madam Butterfly 1966Scottish Opera for All

Read more about the opera Madama Butterfly

The autumn of 1966 saw the first tour of the third group of Opera For All, under the management of Scottish Opera. The pattern was set immediately, with a group of three operas playing in repertoire, for a total of 42 performances, usually on one night stands. A few venues saw two of the works, but at this stage none saw all three in one visit. All performances were in English, and the operas were accompanied by piano, and a group of young singers would gain invaluable stage experience performing roles they might one day hope to sing in the full company.

The operas this time were Così fan tutte (12 performances), Madama Butterfly (17) and La cenerentola (13). After a break over Christmas, the tour continued during the early months of 1967. The repertoire and roster of singers would change in the autumn of 1967. The Puccini had already had two main-stage productions with Scottish Opera, but the Mozart and Rossini pieces had not - the famous Così staging by Anthony Besch was scheduled for the spring of 1967, and the Rossini would follow in 1969, directed by Colin Graham.

The seventeen stop itinerary of this first Butterfly tour was as follows: 27 Sep (Dumfries), 1 Oct (Workington), 6 Oct (Whitehaven), 12 Oct (Redcar), 15 Oct (Darlington), 18 Oct (Blyth), 22 Oct (Richmond), 26 Oct (Hexham), 1 Nov (Kendal), 9 Nov (Stranraer), 11 Nov (Troon), 15 Nov (Campbeltown), 19 Nov (Greenock), 23 Nov (Forfar), 26 Nov (Lerwick), 29 Nov (Brora), 9 Dec (Moffat).

Itinerary and cast details from our copy of the season's tour programme.