Opera Scotland

Grand Duke 1990Orpheus Club

Read more about the opera Grand Duke

The Grand Duke is the most rarely performed of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Not only has it lacked a professional production in Scotland since its initial tour of 1896, but even amateur groups have tended to avoid it. Glasgow's Orpheus Club, with an uninterrupted history of performance dating back to 1893, had tackled Utopia Limited on six occasions in that time, but The Grand Duke had attracted their attention only once before, and that quite recently, in 1981.

While it undoubtedly lacks the consistent quality of the earlier works, this piece can work quite well in the theatre, as was shown by this excellent staging during Glasgow's year as European Capital of Culture.