Opera Scotland

Tosca 1990Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Tosca

Anthony Besch returned to direct a further run of his Tosca, with Gibson still in charge of the musical performance. The great new arrival in this cast was Arthur Davies, giving a wonderfully sung and youthful performance of Cavaradossi. Malcolm Donnelly had sung some performances of Scarpia in the first run a decade earlier, but his interpretation had developed so he was now a menacingly still figure. The new Tosca, Maria Abajan, from Armenia, was a nervy performer, but warmed to a strongly dramatic interpretation. Maria Moll, who had sung Tosca with Opera-Go-Round a few seasons earlier, also made a strong impression.

 

Scottish Opera's Season - 1990/91

The 1990/91 season of Scottish Opera featured nine operas, most notably the world premiere of a new piece by Judith Weir, The Vanishing Bridegroom and the British premiere of an unknown American work, Regina by Mark Blitzstein. The three other new productions were Les Troyens, Fidelio and Falstaff. There were also revivals of Bohème,  Tosca, The Cunning Little Vixen and The Barber of Seville. It was also the first season in which the company introduced supertitles, though not yet when the work was being sung in English.