OPERA, MUSIC, THEATRE & THE ARTS | SCOTLAND
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[Rating:3.5] This review appeared first at Opera Britannia Scottish Opera’s revival of Anthony Besch’s Tosca offers a rewarding evening, though not one without its problems. Vocally, this is a Tosca not to be missed. Unfortunately, most of the evening is marred by insensitive conducting and far too much noise from the pit. The production itself…
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This review was first published at Opera Britannia Hansel & Gretel – Engelbert Humperdinck [Rating:3.5/5] Theatre Royal, Glasgow – 4 February 2012, Scottish Opera Just a dozen or so years before Engelbert Humperdinck wrote his most famous opera, the world was tasting saccharine for the first time. The great danger with Hansel and Gretel is…
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Scottish Opera and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 20 January 2012 [Rating: 2.5] Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery is seldom staged in this country. This production by Scottish Opera in collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland worked reasonably well as a showcase for the singing talents of those on stage. However, no persuasive case…
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[rating: 4/5] This review first appeared on Opera Britannia. From the moment the curtain went up on this stylish and beautifully sung Rigoletto, it was clear that this was going to be a confident production. We saw a dark, blank stage with only a simple door, drawn slightly carelessly as though with chalk. It was…
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This review was first published at the Opera Britannia website. Strauss’s Intermezzo is seldom performed and consequently not particularly widely known. Scottish Opera’s new production (directed by Wolfgang Quetes) is an attempt to rescue the reputation of a difficult and troubling work which, though it has wonderful music throughout, never quite allows us to escape…
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This was previously published by Opera Britannia Scottish Opera – Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 14 February 2011 Scottish Opera’s Orlando is a vehicle for some fine virtuoso singing but the evening never amounts to anything greater than the sum of its parts. Indeed, though some of those parts are a delight, others fall short of expectations…
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The following review also appears on Opera Britannia [rating:4] It is not difficult to see why performances of The Adventures of Mr Brouček are something of a rarity. The eponymous Brouček is whisked through time, space and circumstance in an opera whose score is at once challenging and beguiling. Scottish Opera’s collaboration with Opera North…