It was acclaimed with the utmost warmth by an audience that included the composer's ever-constant friends and patrons, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and  Duchess of Edinburgh. The cast on the first night  comprised Marguerite Macintyre (Rebecca), Esther Palliser (Rowena), Ben Davies (Ivanhoe), Norman Salmond (Richard Coeur de Lion),  Ffrangcon Davies (Cedric), Charles Kenningham (De Bracy), Avon Saxon (Friar Tuck), Charles Copland (Isaac of York), and that gifted American barytone, Eugene Oudin, who made a brilliant debut in the part of the Templar. The composer held the baton.