Opera Scotland

Madam Butterfly 1965Sadler's Wells Opera

Read more about the opera Madama Butterfly

This single week at the Glasgow Alhambra was the only visit by Sadler's Wells in the autumn of 1965. The programme included the first Scottish viewing of a famous Wagner staging, a fresh look at Figaro, and a very rare sighting of Weber's Freischütz. The full schedule was: Mon Flying Dutchman, Tue Marriage of Figaro, Wed Madam Butterfly, Thu Der Freischütz, Fri Figaro, Sat mat & eve Orpheus in the Underworld.

It was the first look at the new Colin Graham staging of Butterfly, perhaps a courageous move, given that Scottish Opera had themselves only mounted Peter Ebert's excellent new version in the spring - Laura Sarti sang in both, using Italian for the local company and English for SWO. Generally sound, Graham's view served the company for several seasons, re-appearing a couple more times before the Sadler's Wells company stopped touring.

Abbreviated cast details are from a review in the Glasgow Herald.