Opera Scotland

Fledermaus 1988Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Fledermaus

The relentless trendiness of Simon Callow’s staging of Fledermaus worked quite well on its first run with a cast who had been in it from the beginning of rehearsals. It tired rapidly on revival the following year, but at a first viewing the modern Glaswegian “merchant city” milieu was quite fun. Everything in the Eisenstein's flat was high-spec in Bruno Santini's designs, and Kit Hesketh-Harvey's new English version was thoroughly diverting.

The conductor, as so often in this difficult music, was not a natural exponent of the Viennese waltz – all a bit too unsubtle - but the singing was without a weak link, even if a baritone Orlofsky perhaps made for too many low voices in the ensemble.

Nevertheless, the excellent soloists were able to ensure that the performance was thoroughly enjoyable. The intimacy of the Theatre Royal also allowed the expert projection of the dialogue so that the comedy was deftly timed. Most of the singers were familiar, even if operetta was a new departure for them, at least in Scotland. There were two excellent newcomers in Gillian Sullivan and Amy Burton, who fitted comfortably into what was a true company performance, with the chorus members also enjoying their cameo roles at the party.

 

Scottish Opera's Season - 1988/89

The programme for the 1988-89 season of Scottish Opera opened with Midsummer Marriage. The other new productions were Fledermaus, Rheingold, Don Giovanni, Oedipus Rex, Traviata and Street Scene. The revivals were Magic Flute, Iolanthe, and Bohème, In the autumn the previous season's Richard Jones Così fan tutte, redirected by Tim Hopkins, went out on the medium-scale tour. There was also a small-scale, piano-accompanied tour of Don Carlos, so far Scottish Opera's only attempt at this work.