Opera Scotland

Dreigroschenoper 2020Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Read more about the opera Threepenny Opera

The Threepenny Opera is undoubtedly a landmark of twentieth century musical theatre, Brecht’s lyrics meet Weill’s extraordinary score in a satirical take on traditional opera and operetta.  It is usually performed by a mixture of disciplines, with singing actors more prominent than fully-fledged operatic voices.  This has meant in the past that some performances show actors struggling to cope with singing roles that really are technically quite demanding.

This staging, being mounted by the Conservatoire, might just as easily have been a product of the acting school.  However it was definitely operatic in its approach, one of the most obvious signs of this being the decision to perform the original German text by Bertolt Brecht.  It seems likely that this is the first time that it has been heard in Scotland.  Most of the singers were relatively recent recruits to the Conservatoire, having trained initially in several countries before coming to Glasgow.

The staging was safe in the hands of Caroline Clegg, a director who has worked regularly at this venue in the last couple of years.  Her wide range of operatic work includes a previous staging of the Threepenny Opera in Manchester (at RNCM).

The eleven players in the pit (some doubling instruments) brought the right salty tang to Weill's ground-breaking score, under the guidance of Philip White.  As Head of the Opera School, this was perhaps a rare luxury for him to give himself the opportunity to conduct.