Opera Scotland

Götterdämmerung 2003Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Twilight of the Gods

The 2003-04 season of Scottish Opera was dominated by its opening event. Tim Albery's production of Der Ring des Nibelungen had been assembled during the three previous Edinburgh Festivals. The 2003 Festival was the culmination of this process, with complete cycles performed. After this intensive sequence of two Edinburgh cycles, the company moved on to give two in Glasgow and a final one at the recently opened Lowry at Salford Quays.

For non-Wagnerites, the rest of the season consisted of new productions of The Magic Flute and La bohème with a revival of Aïda. There was also an intimate staging of Eugene Onegin - with piano in the autumn and a small band in the spring. The Essential Scottish Opera team made its annual tour of the Highlands and Islands. A distinct novelty was a new piece composed specifically for children - on a larger scale than the company's previous works of this kind, The Minotaur by Julian Evans toured with a small orchestra.

This final episode of the Ring did not open at the Edinburgh Festival, but helped to increase the sense of momentum by opening in the spring. This was not just a preparation for the five cycles in the summer and autumn, but a climax to the entire 2002-03 season which had opened with Siegfried the previous summer. Other items in that repertoire included Die Fledermaus, Orfeo ed Euridice, Rigoletto, The Magic Flute and a medium-scale Bohème.

Unlike the 1971 cycle, the cast for this staging had stayed generally free of illness, but for the opening night this time Graham Sanders was ill, and the company was able to field a thoroughly acceptable replacement.

The staging worked very well, with the Gibichung scenes introducing an element of big city corruption, with skyscrapers seen in the background and business garb the preferred wear.