Opera Scotland

Bitter Sweet 1988New Sadler's Wells Opera

Read more about the opera Bitter Sweet

New Sadler's Wells Opera were an enterprising outfit based at the north London theatre for several seasons in the eighties. During that time, with a remit to explore neglected areas of the operetta field, they produced several worthwhile ventures. With the demise of D'Oyly Carte, there was a need for good performances of G & S. Much of the classic Viennese repertoire was also under-exposed in Britain, and they revived little known works by Lehár and Kálmán. Bitter Sweet, one of their last productions, formed a link between those two fields - a British gloss on the traditional Viennese operetta.

The company made three visits to Aberdeen, of which this was the last, following H M S Pinafore and The Mikado. It was in most respects excellent. With stylish designs by Russell Craig and Deirdre Clancy it all looked superb, and Ian Judge found the appropriate lightness of touch, as did Stuart Hutchinson. The cast did wonders, with the chorus members performing dozens of individualised characters in support of the excellent principals.