Opera Scotland

Bohème 1995Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Bohème

Scottish Opera's season for 1995-96 contained some new productions that were highly memorable, though most were not seen again and none survived for long. After the Edinburgh Festival, where the new staging of The Jacobin opened, there was a small-scale, piano-accompanied tour of La bohème. The main subscription season contained The Jacobin and new stagings of Don Giovanni, La belle Hélène and Hansel and Gretel. A revival of La traviata was followed by new productions of Alceste and Turandot.

This tour boasted a rather good cast, especially on the male side. Ian Storey already had wide experience in Britain and abroad, and appeared regularly with the main company, including the next main stage revival of Bohème (when Rodolfo was again shared with David Newman). Similarly, Roderick Williams would continue to appear with the company in a range of roles, including Schaunard and Marcello in different Bohème productions. Jeremy Silver, the company's Chorus Master, stayed away from Scotland for the next couple of decades, until he returned as conductor of ETO.

Stewart Laing was a much-admired Head of Design at the Citz, working with the famous triumvirate of directors in one of that theatre's greatest periods. He had also directed some of his own shows and was beginning to move into opera. This was a highly promising beginning, though, at least with Scottish Opera, his follow-up work has been less successful.