Title: Norma
Date: Saturday 20th June 1953, Evening
Type: Opera
Company: Covent Garden Opera Company
Location: Royal Opera House, London, England
Composer: Vincenzo Bellini
Librettist: Felice Romani
Conductor: John Pritchard
Collection Folder: Folder 21

Cast

Oroveso, the Arch-Druid: Giulio Neri
Pollione, Roman Pro-Consul: Mirto Picchi
Flavio, a Centurion: Paul Asciak
Norma, High Priestess of the Druids: Maria Meneghini Callas
Adalgisa, a virgin of the Temple: Giulietta Simionato
Clotilde, Norma’s Confidante: Joan Sutherland
The children of Norma and Pollione: Michael Kelly, Michael Nicholls

Chorus

Sopranos: Jacqueline Browning, Norah Cannell, Hazel Clare, Jean Cross, Vera Evans, Anne Finley, Gizella Gondos, Elizabeth Goodall, Hilda Hanson, Mabel Hill, Joyce Livingstone, Jean McDonald, Lean Roberts, Marta Shelley, Megan Thomas Davies, Barbara Whelan

Contraltos: Jeanne Bowden, Phyllis Bridgwater, Joan Cope, Myfanwy Edwards, Brenda Godfray, Catherine Harding, Vera Hoddinott, Patricia Johnson, Florence Jones, Margaret Lane, Nada Pobjoy, Lilian Simmons, Phyllis Simons, Winifred Watkins, Dorothy Yeowart

Tenors: Frank Aikens, Roderick Bowen, John Cockerill, Andrew Daniels, Richard Dawson, Mark Emdon, Thomas Fletcher, Emlyn Jones, James Jones, Thomas George Jones, Wilfred Olwern Jones, James McCluskey, Ignatius McFadyen, Lewis Powell, Ernest Wilson Rosser, Clifford Starr, Hector Thomas

Basses: Barclay John Brown, John Campbell, Stanley Cooper, Afan Davies, Rousell Gordon Farrall, Walter Fechter, Ronald Firmager, Hedworth Fisher, Harry Gawler, Alan Hobson, Leonard Law, Hubert Littlewood, Charles Morris, Douglas Parnell, Andrew Sellars, Aston Shaw

Orchestra

First Violins:
Charles Taylor (Leader)
Robert Cooper
Manus O’Donnell
Edward Bryett
Albert Curran
Robert Bossert
Derek Francis
Anthony Connery
Alexander Rosdol
Max Jekel
Sydney Marcus
Reginald Hill
Michael Long
John Fisher

Second Violins:
Reginald Boothroyd
Bernard Gould
Reginald Crick
Jack Musikant
Hugh Wright
Eric Bowie
Charles Coverman
James Buyers
Thomas Fowler
John Woolf
George Whitaker

Violas:
Maurice Ward
Jeremy White
Eric Bray
Laurence Lackland
William Krasnik
John Denman
Peter Barbirolli
Ronald Allen
Norman Grove

Cellos:
Kenneth Heath
Jack Francis
Edward Robinson
Louis Bontoux
Frederick Ormondroyd
Gordon Fernyhough
Roland Carr
Alexander Cameron

Basses:
Victor Watson
Ronald Robinson
Frank Fuller
Frederick Figston
John Cooper
Adrian Cruft
Jack Colin

Flutes:
Harold Clarke
Wilfred Smith (Piccolo, Bass Flute)
Alexander Murray
Derek Honner (Piccolo)

Oboes:
Robert Cattermole
Donald Bridger
Arnold Fawcett (Cor Anglais)
Peter Boswell (Cor Anglais)

Clarinets:
Olive Wright
Bernard Bree (Bassett Horn)
Edward Augarde (E-flat Clarinet, Bass Clarinet)
R. Temple Savage (Bass Clarinet, Bassett Horn)

Bassoons:
Archie Camden
Brian Pollard
Vernon Elliott (Contra Bassoon)
Arline Robinson

Horns:
Charles Gregory
Colin Hinchcliff
James Brown
Roger Rutledge
Anthony Tunstall
Sim Saville

Tubas:
Alan Hyde
James Burditt
Roger Rutledge
Raymond Bryant

Bass Tuba:
James Gordon

Trumpets:
David Mason
Geoffrey Brand (Piccolo Trumpet, Cornet)
Roy Copestake
Harry Dilley (Cornet)

Trombones:
Christopher Devenport (Alto Trombone)
Evan Watkins (Bass Trumpet)
Francis Stead

Bass and Contra Bass Trombone:
John Howells

Timpani:
Allen Taylor
Jack Wilson
Reginald Barker

Percussion:
Reginald Barker
Frederick Harmer
Jack Wilson
Jack Wakeley

Harps:
Jeanne Chevreau
Elizabeth Harrison

Celesta:
Norman Feasey

Crew

For Norma

Director: Gianfranco Enriquez
Sets and Costumes Design: Alan Barlow
Scenery Building: Ted Waldron
Scenery Painting: Geoffrey Burnand
Costume Making: Olivia Cranmer
Fabric Dyeing and Painting: Barbara Ternouth, Beatrice Bendelow

For the Covent Garden Opera Company

Opera Company General Manager: Patrick Terry
Conductors: John Barbirolli, Alberto Erede, Peter Gellhorn, Reginald Goodall, Erich Kleiber, Clemens Krauss, John Pritchard
Guest Producers: Sumner Austin, Basil Coleman, Rudolph Hartmann
Resident Producer: Christopher West
Répétiteurs: Edward Downes, Norman Feasy, James Gibson, Robert Keys, Eric Mitchell, Emanuel Young
Orchestra Manager: Morris Smith
Librarian: R. Temple Savage
Stage Manager: Elizabeth Latham
Chorus Master: Douglas Robinson

For the Royal Opera House

General Director: David L. Webster
Deputy General Director: Steuart Wilson
House Manager: Neville Coppel
Production Manager: John Sullivan
Chief Machinist: Horace Fox
Chief Electrician: William Bundy
Property Master: Edward Blatch
Resident House Engineer: Sydney T. Cheney
Box Office Manager: Derek Wilson
Archivist: Harold Rosenthal

Programme Printed By: Finden Brown & Co., Ltd.