Pearl Fishers 1996Scottish Opera
Read more about the opera Pearl Fishers
Concert performances of operas usually take place because someone considers a work to be good enough to hear live, without the certainty that it would justify the expense of a full staging and a run of several performances, with all the rehearsals that would require.
Two little-publicised concert performances of Bizet's charmingly tuneful early opera seem an odd inclusion within the body of the 1996/97 season. The previous staging in 1988 had died instantly, and raised questions about the quality of the work itself, so maybe this was an attempt to demonstrate its strengths once again, with a 'good sing' for the chorus at the very least. No follow-up occurred, so perhaps it did the opposite.
A further performance is listed in the programme as a Benefactor's Evening on 29 November 1996.
