Opera Scotland

Carmen 1889Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Carmen

A decade after its first performances in Britain, Carmen was already established as a staple of the repertoire - a position from which it has never been dislodged. The American soprano Zélie de Lussan sang Carmen at the New York Met and Covent Garden - and many times in Scotland! Her arrival meant that Fanny Moody, having herself sung the title role in the spring, moved to the less high-profile part of Micaëla (and the previous Micaëla switched to Frasquita).

Annie Cook, in addition to being the daughter of Aynsley Cook, was married to Eugene Goossens II, who would soon join his father in conducting duties. She was therefore the mother of five supremely musical children - conductor and composer Eugene III, oboist Leon, two very long-lived harpists Marie and Sidonie, as well as a talented horn-player Adolf (who was killed during the first world war).