Opera Scotland

Iolanthe 1991D'Oyly Carte Opera Company

Read more about the opera Iolanthe

This was a lively and well-staged production of Iolanthe, touring in repertoire with a slightly less traditional, but equally enjoyable, staging of The Gondoliers.  If there was a risk here, it was simply that Scottish Opera had a brilliant staging by Keith Warner in its recent repertoire, while its staging of The Gondoliers was as long ago as 1968.

No matter.  Taken on its own terms, it was a great success.  The fairy element was given full scope, and there were Wagnerian references - the work had opened in London when Lohengrin was in vogue, and Sullivan did introduce appropriate elements of parody.  Here the set, with its atmospheric lighting,  could have worked in a staging of the Ring.  The fairy element was given a twenties setting, with Art Deco fixtures and flapper style costumes for the fairies' chorus line.

The cast was rightly dominated by Jill Pert's majestic Queen and Russell Dixon's sprightly though bumbling Lord Chancellor.