Opera Scotland

Adventures of Pinocchio The Adventures of Pinocchio

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Music
Jonathan Dove (born London, 18 July 1959)

Text
Alasdair Middleton.

Source
Story by Carlo Collodi.

Premières
First performance: Leeds (Grand Theatre), 21 December 2007.
First UK performance: As above.
First performance in Scotland: Edinburgh (Festival Theatre), 27 October 2010.
Scottish Opera première: N/A.

Background
Jonathan Dove has had a successful career producing a series of operas for children, and more for community performance. He also produced successful performing editions of a number of important operas to allow them to be performed in a more intimate style, including Wagner’s Ring reduced to two evenings. As was seen with his earlier work, including Flight, he can compose in a range of styles as required, and his music is instantly communicative. His version of Pinocchio was conceived for Opera North and used chorus members to fill a number of small roles. The whole work was tailored specifically to the talents of the performers available, with the director Martin Duncan also involved in its gestation. The result was greeted with rapture by Leeds audiences as well as by the critics. The nasty bits of the story probably frighten the adults far more than the kids.

 

Main Characters
Geppetto (baritone)
Pinocchio (mezzo-soprano)
Blue Fairy (soprano)
Cricket & Parrot (soprano)
Pigeon & Snail (soprano)
Cat (tenor)
Fox & Coachman (counter-tenor)
Puppeteer, Judge, Ringmaster, Fire-eater & Ogre (bass)