NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

century at least the divide between serious listening and popular entertainment
was not so marked; there was not yet a wide gulf between the two. The same
people, on the whole, enjoyed both and this would perhaps have been nowhere
better reflected than in the early theatres of Newcastle.
Harold Oswald in his book ‘The Theatres Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne’ said
in the introduction that the first theatrical presentations in Newcastle were at the
Moot Hall and then at the Turks Head Long Room, known as the Theatre in the
Bigg Market. It became the headquarters of drama for forty years but there would
have been music also as the following extract from the Newcastle Chronicle of
2 nd April 1774 shows:
‘At the theatre in the Bigg Market on Friday it being April 8 will be
performed a concert of music…
Between the parts of the concert will be presented (gratis) a
tragedy called “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”’
The Theatre Royal, Mosley Street opened its doors to the public in 1788 and
presented comic opera together with straight drama and the occasional concert.
In March 1819 there was a grand miscellaneous concert of selections from
Handel’s sacred oratorios interposed between the play ‘She Stoops to Conquer’
and ‘The Innkeeper’s Daughter’ and seven days later another concert of sacred
music was sandwiched between ‘The Stranger’ and an operetta, called ‘The
Rendezvous’. Earlier the theatre had mounted a performance of ‘Guy
Mannering’; a play with music. The handbill for the performance states, ‘To
conclude with the favourite Scotch AIR. “Auld Lang Syne”. These plays with
music, which served as English opera at this period were very elastic, usually the
singer taking part, who probably also had a hand in the acting, introduced or cut
out musical numbers according to his own individual requirements and thought
nothing of suspending the dramatic action of the play and interpolating a few
ballads of his own choice. There is a story associated with the tenor, Braham, in
a performance of ‘Guy Mannering’, where having reached the last dramatic
scene, set in a cave, he discovered a grand piano in there, and exclaimed "A
piano! That reminds me of a delightful aria I heard at La Scala the other night” –
A cue for a song if ever there was one. In 1813 on 30 th November, a Grand
Concert was held at which Signor Rivolta ‘exhibited his wonderful performance’
on the Pandean Pipes, Spanish Guitar, Triangle, Harmonica, Tabor, Chinese
Crescent, Cymbals and Bass Drum. The audience were reassured in writing on
the notice advertising Signor Rivolta’s concert that ‘The Theatre will be well aired
during the previous week’, probably essential in those ‘pre-deodorant’ days. A
later handbill tells us of a forthcoming performance by Miss Rose of Dublin, who
will – ‘exert her distinguished talents in the vocal department’. On 19 th February
1823 tragedy struck and seven people were crushed to death in the ensuing
panic following a false fire alarm during a performance. But the theatre soon
reopened its doors to the public on 15 th December 1824 with a performance of
the opera, ‘Der Freischutz’ by Weber. This performance was only three years
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