OTD in early British television: 18 September 1934
John Wyver writes: The ambition of producer Eustace Robb’s 30-line television broadcasts is again witnessed by the 50-minute broadcast in the late evening of Tuesday 18 September 1934. In what was in fact a reprise of a broadcast from July, this was a full programme of excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen, with the noted Canadian soprano Sarah Fischer (above) as Carmen.
Lyric tenor Heddle Nash, fresh from performing Mozart in the inaugural season at Glyndebourne, sang elements of Don José’s role, Frank Sale was the Toreador, and famed teacher and choreographer Elsa Brunelleschi provided dances. The arias were sung in French, and the small six-piece orchestra (piano, two violins, viola, cello and bass) was conducted by operetta and light music composer Mark Lubbock.
Image: Sarah Fischer photographed in Hollywood, 1939; source Cannons, Sarah Fischer fonds. Library and Archives Canada, e002505714 /
[OTD post no. 274; part of a long-running series leading up to the publication on 8 January 2026 of my book Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain, which can now be pre-ordered from Bloomsbury here.]
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