ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the term provincial should be taken as including suburban London, as it was the West End which was unusual rather than the metropolis as a whole. Provincial performances in this period were provided by touring companies and this chapter focuses on them; no town had a resident troupe similar to those found in many continental cities. In terms of longevity, status and innovation, the dominant troupes between 1875 and 1918 were the Carl Rosa and Moody-Manners companies; there were many others but the majority survived fewer than five years before either collapsing or reforming under another name. With few exceptions, the language of performance in provincial opera was English. The finances of the touring troupes are largely unknown: most provincial companies existed for relatively short periods and their records have not survived. For audiences, the opera companies provided widely welcomed entertainment.
