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 is long overdue for another look.