Opera Scotland

Albert Herring 2024Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Albert Herring

In its early years, Scottish Opera made a feature of mounting Britten's chamber operas,  These were not just toured round Scotland and the rest of the UK, but also established the company's reputation on continental Europe.  The first of these stagings was Albert Herring, which opened in 1966 and stayed constantly in the repertoire until 1971, by which time the sets had simply fallen apart. Several of the cast sang in all the performances, almost becoming a home repertory company. It spearheaded the company's foreign touring with a successful visit to the Florence Maggio Musicale in 1968.

It is a delightful social comedy derived from a French short story transplanted to Edwardian Suffolk.  It was long overdue for another look, and the company on the whole did it justice.  William Cole obtained excellent results from the chamber ensemble largely of section principals.  Some people who had seen the staging when it opened at an intimate venue in Haddington (at the Lammermuir Festival) were doubtful about it transmitting in the wide space of the Festival Theatre. But that did not seem to be a problem. Words came across clearly.

Whether this particular period piece translates well in an updating is debatable.  So much of the work sits comfortably in a rural Edwardian setting.  It was not always entirely at ease in contemporary dress, and the modern decor for the village hall was a bit garish. The fundamental doubt simply revolved round the character and position of Lady Billows. Would she run village affairs like this in modern times? Social comedies do generally depend on sharp observation of character and status, and much of that disappeared.

Despite this, the village worthies were well drawn.  Lady Billows is a gift of a role for the experienced operatic diva, and Susan Bullock made the most of her opportunities.  Likewise, Jamie Macdougall used his experience to project the dignity of the Mayor, and the others  were all well in the picture - the police officer was perhaps more appropriate in his demotion from Superintendent to a mere PC.

The three village urchins were all played by sopranos - the distinctive sound of a treble for Harry was missing, but the vocal trio actually sounded well.