Opera Scotland

Faust 1908Moody-Manners Opera Company

Read more about the opera Faust

The Moody-Manners Opera Company, established in 1901, began touring to Edinburgh and Glasgow immediately on its formation.

With the exception of three performances in Dunfermline in 1903, they did not venture north of the central belt until 1908, when they reached Aberdeen and Dundee for the first time. They returned for a further three years. While Tannhäuser had launched the Aberdeen week, Faust was their opening performance on Tayside, and the top-notch cast was clearly intended to make a big impression, even if the first local performances of Aïda and Madam Butterfly were held back for later in the week.

Only Marion Broom appears to have sung on every evening, though Charles Manners, John Coates and Lewys James clearly gave the majority of performances, along with conductor Sapio. However, with a touring body of this size, the management no doubt thought it prudent to ensure that there were experienced 'covers' able to take over at any time in the event of illness.

Casts for 24 February and 3 March appear in programmes in the Mitchell Library collection, and that for 10 March in a programme held by Aberdeen City Library. That for 16 March is assembled from reviews in the Dundee Advertiser and Dundee Courier & Argus. The cast for 17 February is from a programme in the Weir collection of the National Library of Scotland.