An interesting Magic Flute cast kicked off this Sadler's Wells week in Aberdeen, with the same team repeating the piece on Friday. The Scottish tenor William McAlpine was now enjoying an international career, but would soon start regular appearances with Scottish Opera as well. Pauline Tinsley, making her Scottish debut, seems a surprising choice as Queen of Night, but she always had a rivetingly dramatic approach to everything she sang. Her later Mozart roles included Susanna and Fiordiligi as well as Elettra and Elvira, but she had already started singing Wagner, with appearances as Elsa the previous year with Welsh National. Eric Shilling is interesting casting as Papageno, as he is more usually associated with elderly comic characters, even when he was younger.
The schedule for this Aberdeen week, commencing 11 November was: Mon Magic Flute; Tue Carmen; Wed Don Pasquale; Thu Magic Flute; Fri Cav & Pag; Sat mat & eve Belle Hélène. At the other two venues the order changed slightly over the first three days, but the content was the same.
Cast details are from a programme in the Aberdeen City Library.
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