SADLERS WELLS AND ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERAS 1968 - 2025 Catalogue of Productions (work in progress)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SADLER’S WELLS AND ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA AT THE LONDON COLISEUM

 

CATALOGUE OF PRODUCTIONS 1968 – 2025

 

 

This catalogue lists each new production at the London Colosseum from 1968, when Sadler’s Wells Opera moved to the theatre, with details of the casts on the first performance each season the production was revived.

The move from the old theatre involved many productions which were transferred, and these are noted with an (*). Other productions were newly created.

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin BRITTEN

 

GLORIANA*

 

First Production: 19 February 1969 (directed by Colin Graham)

1968-1969: Sylvia Fisher, David Hillman, Gerwyn Morgan, Shirley Chapman, Jennifer Vyvyan, Derek Hammond-Stroud, Gwynne Howell: Mario Bernardi

 

Engelbert HUMPERDINCK

 

HÄNSEL UND GRETEL*

 

First Production: 26 December 1968 (directed by Glen Byam Shaw)

1968-1969: Margaret Neville, Patricia Kern, Neil Easton, Janice Chapman, Ronald Dowd: Mario Bernardi

 

Claudio MONTEVERDI

 

ORFEO*

 

First Performance: 20 March 1969 (directed by Patrick Libby)

1968-1969: John Wakefield, Margaret Neville, Patricia Kern, Anne Evans, Harold Blackburn, Stafford Dean, Ann Howard: Raymond Leppard

 

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART

 

DON GIOVANNI

 

First Production: 21 August 1968 (directed by John Gielgud)

1968-1969: Leonard Delaney, Donna Faye-Carr, Donald Pilley, Pauline Tinsley, Stafford Dean, Margaret Neville: Mario Bernardi

 

THE MAGIC FLUTE*

 

First Production: 23 April 1969 (directed by Frank Hauser)

1968-1969: Alexander Young, Margaret Curphey, Derek Hammond-Stroud, Rhonda Bruce, Don Garrard: Charles Mackerras

 

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO*

 

First Production: 12 November 1968 (directed by John Blatchley)

1968-1969: Raimund Herincx, Margaret Curphey, Tom McDonnell, Margaret Neville, Shirley Chapman: Roderick Brydon

 

Jacques OFFENBACH

 

LA BELLE HÉLÈNE*

 

First Production: 24 September 1968 (directed by Basil Coleman)

1968-1969: Joan Davis, John Brecknock, Denis Dowling, Derek Hammond-Stroud, John Fryatt: Terence Kern

 

ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD*

 

First Production: 22 August 1968 (directed by Wendy Toye)

1968-1969: Iris Kells, Kevin Miller, Emile Belcourt, John Delaney, Eric Shilling: John Barker

 

LA VIE PARISIENNE*

 

First Production: 16 April 1969 (directed by Wendy Toye)

1968-1969: John Fryatt, Heather Begg, Kevin Miller, Emile Belcourt, Margaret Burton, Iris Kells: George Tintner

 

Giacomo PUCCINI

 

LA BOHÈME*

 

First Production: 6 November 1968 (directed by John Blatchley)

1968-1969: Anne Evans, David Hillman, Elizabeth Fretwell, James Singleton: Bryan Balkwill

 

MADAMA BUTTERFLY*

 

First Production: 5 February 1969 (directed by Colin Graham)

1968-1969: Ava June, David Hughes, Neil Easton, Gillian Knight: Mario Bernardi

 

Gioacchino ROSSINI

 

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE*

 

First Production: 25 March 1969 (directed by Douglas Craig)

1968-1969: Terence Sharp, Wendy Baldwin, John Winfield, Derek Hammond-Stroud, Eric Stannard: John Matheson

 

THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS

 

First Production: 15 October 1968 (directed by Wendy Toye)

1968-1969: Patricia Kern, John Winfield, Julian Moyle, Harold Blackburn: Mario Bernardi

 

THE THIEVING MAGPIE

 

First Production: 15 May 1969 (directed by Anthony Besch)

1968-1969: Margaret Curphey, Harold Blackburn, Louis Browne, Don Garrard: Bryan Balkwill

 

Camille SAINT-SAËNS

 

SAMSON ET DALILA

 

First Production: 15 November 1968 (directed by Keith Beattie)

1968-1969: Ronald Dowd, Ann Howard, Robert Bickerstaff, Tom McDonnell: Roderick Brydon

 

Johann STRAUSS

 

DIE FLEDERMAUS

 

First Production: 8 March 1969 (directed by Glen Byam Shaw)

1968-1969: Catherine Wilson, Emil Belcourt, Margaret Gale, Rowland Jones, Shirley Chapman: Henry Krips

 

Arthur SULLIVAN

 

IOLANTHE*

 

First Production: 2 April 1969 (directed by Eric Shilling)

1968-1969: Eric  Shilling, Denis Dowling, John Brecknock, Margaret Gale, Alan Charles, Heather Begg, Gillian Knight: Richard Fisher

 

Giuseppe VERDI

 

THE FORCE OF DESTINY

 

First Production: 18 December 1968 (directed by Colin Graham)

1968-1969: Pauline Tinsley, Donald Smith, Robert Bickerstaff, Don Garrard, Joyce Blackham, Derek Hammond-Stroud: Bryan Balkwill

 

RIGOLETTO*

 

First Production: 2 September 1968 (directed by Michael Geliot)

1968-1969: Raimund Herincx, Maria Pellegrini, Donald Smith: Kenneth Montgomery

 

LA TRAVIATA*

 

First Production: 8 January 1969 (directed by William Royston)

1968-1969: Margaret Curphey, David Hillman, Julian Moyle: Kenneth Montgomery

 

Richard WAGNER

 

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN*

 

First Production: 29 January 1969 (directed by Dennis Arundell)

1968-1969: Norman Bailey, Milla Andrew, Gregory Dempsey, Harold Blackburn: John Matheson

 

THE MASTERSINGERS OF NUREMBURG*

 

First Production: 24 August 1968 (directed by Glen Byam Shaw)

1968-1969: Norman Bailey, Margaret Curphey, Alberto Remedios, Gregory Dempsey, Derek Hammond-Stroud: Reginald Goodall

 

Malcolm WILLIAMSON

 

THE VIOLINS OF SAINT-JACQUES*

 

First Production: 27 November 1968 (directed by John Blatchley)

1968-1969: April Cantelo, David Hillman, Jennifer Vyvyan, Emile Belcourt, Shirley Chapman, Raimund Herincx: John Barker