Opera Scotland

Huguenots 1891Carl Rosa Opera Company

Read more about the opera Huguenots

Advertisements described this as 'Meyerbeer's Grand Opera in 4 Acts' - which rather implies that the fifth and final act was omitted in its entirety, a solution commonly adopted at a time when opera performances had a generally accepted duration. Reviews confirm that the performance ended with the conspiracy scene and the great duet for Raoul and Valentine. Their meeting with his Huguenot colleagues and their slaughter at the hands of Valentine's father was omitted.

Georgina Burns, in her final tour with the company, had been too ill to sing two nights earlier, when the company had promised a rousing and spectacular start to their Edinburgh visit. If the substitution of Faust on the opening night was a source of disappointment for many, at least the fact that Huguenots was staged on the Wednesday would have appeased those members of Monday's audience who were able to return.