Opera Scotland

Eugene Onegin 2008Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD)

Read more about the opera Eugene Onegin

Scottish Opera's 2007-08 season consisted entirely of new productions, generally successful ones at that. The company was clearly still struggling financially, however. The autumn saw the start of a new relationship with the great baritone Sir Thomas Allen, who directed Il barbiere di Siviglia. The new Mozart staging was Seraglio. There was a small-scale version of Rossini's Cinderella, which toured with piano accompaniment in the autumn, then with a reduced orchestration in the spring. A Night at the Chinese Opera, the first full-length piece by Judith Weir, not yet seen in Scotland, was beautifully staged. There was also a successful new production of Verdi's Falstaff. A stimulating innovation also appeared - the first  of three runs of short new works called 5:15 - Operas Made in Scotland. The partnership with RSAMD also continued, with Eugene Onegin. There was another Highlands and Islands tour under the Essential Scottish Opera title, and the orchestra gave a group of Sunday afternoon concerts in St Andrew's in the Square.

With a deal of hype surrounding the collaboration with Rostov Conservatoire, and with the welcome presence of the Scottish Opera Orchestra in the pit, expectations were high for this staging of Onegin. In Moscow its first performances had also been with a cast of students. It had been a favourite work with Scottish Opera and its audiences during the years of the Pountney production. Perhaps expectations were too high. This staging by the experienced and  generally excellent Will Kerley didn't quite work, and there were a few ideas that really jarred. One novelty only need be mentioned - the duel took place offstage, with the audience's attention concentrated on the lone figure of Onegin's silent servant emoting at the front of the stage - very distracting.