Opera Scotland

Don Giovanni 1975Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Don Giovanni

David Pountney was in charge of staging this revival, and it brought out the dark, dramatic aspects of the work. There were features reminiscent of Jacobean revenge tragedy. The element that brought this out especially was Robert Tear's portrayal of Ottavio - a hard-driven, almost fierce figure, and a very different idea of the character. As with most of his Scottish Opera roles, he was trying this for the first time.

Other star performers in unexpected roles included John Shirley-Quirk and Sheila Armstrong. Stafford Dean was by now singing Leporello in most of the world's major houses. By contrast, the young Irish mezzo Ann Murray was starting out on her career.

The repertoire for the autumn tour also included the new Thomas Wilson piece Hermiston, as well as Pountney's production of Die Fledermaus, launched earlier in the summer.

The group came together again in January for some performances at the Theatre Royal. This cast was taken into the studio by EMI Classics for Pleasure, to produce a disc of excerpts - the last of four company productions to be preserved. There were a few further performances in spring 1976, in Liverpool and Sunderland, when the repertoire also included Fledermaus, Ariadne on Naxos, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Rape of Lucretia, that went on to visit Stirling and Perth.