NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

after its premier in Berlin and only five months after its premier in London, where
that same year the opera had resulted in a Freischutz craze with four, possibly
five, different versions being given. We cannot be sure which version reached the
Theatre Royal, Mosley Street and might even have been the English version by
‘Septimus Globus’, which was entitled, ‘Der Freischutz, a new muse-sick-all and
see-nick performance from the new German uproar by the celebrated
Funnybear.’
In the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries the musical stage in Newcastle would
have comprised mostly light-hearted plays shot through with musical numbers.
Marital mix-ups, rustic romances and mythological subjects were favourite topics.
The music performed in these productions may not have been original; there was
a tendency to use popular musical numbers. William Shield was making an art of
this in his successful productions at Covent Garden in London. There were
various names for this sort of entertainment; burlesques, burlettas, comic operas
etc.; in 1837 at the newly opened Theatre Royal on Grey Street, one
presentation was advertised as a lightly popular mythological, operatical classical
burlesque Burletta! Italian opera did not come to Newcastle theatres until the mid
century but when it arrived it proved very popular as did the rather risqué French
musical farces of the time. These performances of opera and lighter fare would
have been of a high standard for the times as there was no stinting on the artists
presented. Particularly in the performances of Italian Opera the world’s greatest
singers were often to be heard. In the latter part of the 19 th century the great
singers in opera were idolised as footballers and pop stars are today. Generally
speaking standards improved when London touring companies began taking
over from the old stock company system of presentations and by the late
Victorian Era the musical side of Newcastle’s theatre life would have been the
equal of anywhere in the country outside the capital.
The Theatre Royal, Grey Street, opened on 20 th February 1837 (Mosley
Street theatre closed 25 th June 1836) and the production mounted on 1 st March
could be said to have set the pattern for what was to follow; two performances a
night with a play followed by a musical item and then an afterpiece – a farce with
music. On that opening night the play was ‘Pizarro’ or ‘The Spaniards’ with a host
of characters playing Spaniards and Peruvians and a bevy of young ladies as
Virgins of the Sun. A Grand Overture followed and then the musical farce
‘Rosina’. This was the story, based upon Charles Simon Favart’s ‘Les
moissoneurs’ (1768). on which William Shield had based his opera ‘Rosina’ and
probably this was a production of the same but no mention is made of Shield on
the handbill. By the 1840s there were oratorio performances taking place in the
theatre and a series of promenade concerts, as previously mentioned, was
mounted without success. It is interesting to note, however, that these concerts
preceded the visit of Mon. Jullien and his unrivalled band, and Dr William Rea by
many years. In spite of the disinterest Newcastle always appears to have shown
in matters cultural, its musical history shows that in some respects it was the
equal of many larger provincial towns in the country. In 1848 Newcastle heard
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