Opera Scotland

Twenty years of Opera Highlights

Posted 6 Mar 2014

Opera lovers lucky enough to attend main stage performances may find it tempting to dismiss evenings of opera highlights as routine fare suitable only for the most remote venues in Scotland. But Scottish Opera's Highlights tour has won particularly high praise for the freshness of its musical mix. and the quality of its singing, presentation and all-round entertainment. 

Four singers and a pianist are packed into a trusty transit van full of props and costumes and off they go - to venues ranging from Ardfern to Montrose and Orkney to Cupar.

The singers - Maire Flavin, Paul Curievici, Andrew McTaggart and Sarah Power - are joined by a pianist, either Ruth Wilkinson or Claire Haslin. In a programme designed by Scottish Opera head of music Derek Clark, the music ranges through the ages. Refreshingly this includes a world premiere by composer Gareth Williams - "Until the Glass Shattered" with lyrics by David Brock - inspired by their work on a Scottish Opera project with sufferers from cystic fibrosis.

Songs and arias are drawn from Porgy and Bess, Faust and Manon as well as Tchaikovsky, Heuberger and Massenet. Audiences will be able to compare the waltz songs from different versions of La Bohème, stick their tongues firmly in their cheeks with "Do you call that a tiara?" from Jonathan Dove's The Enchanted Pig and tap their toes to old favourite "La donna è mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto.

Our image shows the talented singers. Some of the venues are small and so sell out quickly. Click through and book your tickets here while there are still some left.