Opera Scotland

Pelléas and Mélisande 2005Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD)

Read more about the opera Pelléas et Mélisande

Piano-accompanied opera generally works surprisingly well on Scottish Opera's small-scale tours, and not just with chamber sized operas such as those by Mozart and Rossini, but larger scale works too. However the idea of producing Pelléas in this way, even with two pianos, seems a particular challenge, though young students' voices are no doubt helped by not having a full orchestra. It was also good to see this piece, in particular being taken to Haddo, where the wooden walls of the hall would benefit the piano sound.

Cast details are taken from the Academy's booklet Opera@10, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Masters of Opera courses