A long night

“The recent item about the New Opera Company interested me, especially the mention of its performance of The Marriage of Figaro,” emails James Thomson. “I sang the part of Doctor Bartolo. Dr Bartolo’s velvet coat still hangs in a wardrobe and, when it catches my eye, I smile at the memory.

“We took the production to many places, but the Hawick jaunt sticks in my mind for several reasons. Living as I did – and still do – in Glenrothes, I did not travel with the rest of the cast, but had to get to Hawick by car.

“We were playing in the Town Hall, and had not long started when the lights went out. The hall was packed and it took over an hour for the lighting to be repaired. The Marriage of Figaro is a long opera and it was obvious that we were not going to finish before midnight.

“Many of us had not had an evening meal, but the Provost persuaded the local chip shop to remain open until late. I got home at about four am. I was an amateur, so just had time to take make-up off, wash, shave and have breakfast before heading to work in Cupar.

“The New Opera Company was not an amateur group, but it had no assistance from any arts body. The cost of producing opera became too much and when we had cleared our obligations, we wound up the company and transmuted to Tayside Opera.

“I regretted the fact that the original company had to close, for I had long held the ambition to sing the part of Sarastro in The Magic Flute. I’ve sung those arias often but never on the opera stage – an unfulfilled ambition, unless Scottish Opera is seeking an 87-year-old bass.”