Lulu 1987Scottish Opera
Read more about the opera Lulu
John Cox was known for expertise in Strauss, though not really for other great twentieth century operas. John Bury was known largely for his collaborations with Sir Peter Hall, either at the National Theatre or Glyndebourne - little of his work had been seen in Scotland. Lulu itself had been brought twice to the Edinburgh Festival in productions from Stuttgart (with Silja) and Berlin (with Gayer). But the completed three-act version was here receiving its Scottish première.
John Mauceri produced page after page of achingly beautiful sounds from the orchestra in what developed into a haunting production. How tragic that, after all the work that went into it there should be no revival. A superb company effort, with no weak links in the cast. Most of them were relatively unfamiliar, and certainly not known in this repertoire.
The stylishly simple black, white and silver programme cover introduced for the season was highly attractive, but the idea was not repeated.
Scottish Opera's Season 1987/88
The 1987/88 season of Scottish Opera featured ten main stage productions. Six of these were new: Aïda, Lulu, The Pearl Fishers, Così fan tutte , La bohème and Candide. The four revivals were Seraglio, La vie Parisienne, Eugene Onegin (sung in Russian for the first time) and Death in Venice.
Performance Cast
- Prologue a Ringmaster
- Alwa Dr Schön's son, a writer
- Dr Schön a newspaper editor
- Lulu
- Painter
- Doctor Dr Goll, Lulu's first husband
- Prince a traveller in Africa
- Schigolch an old man
- Dresser
- Theatre Director
- Countess Geschwitz
- Rodrigo an athlete
- Schoolboy
- Manservant
- Banker
- Journalist
- Marquis
- Lady Artist
- Mother
- Daughter
- Groom
- First Servant
- Second Servant
- Police Commissioner
- First Policeman
- Second Policeman
- Professor
- African
- Jack the Ripper