Opera Scotland

Orion 1984Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Orione

In 1982 Scottish Opera mounted their first Cavalli production, L'Egisto. The success of this little known baroque work, in an edition by Raymond Leppard, exceeded any expectations of the audience - the music was immediately attractive, the plot amusing and its confusions easy to follow, even in Italian before the arrival of supertitles. It was beautifully sung and acted by a distinguished cast, and it was performed in a memorably attractive production by John Cox in superb designs by Allan Charles Klein. This was filmed by the BBC and toured to Europe, iindeed to Venice itself, and was revived in spring 1984, this time in English translation, with equal success.

The omens for a follow-up were therefore good when Orion was announced for the 1984 Edinburgh Festival. Like Egisto, the staging was imported from Santa Fe. The production team was highly reputable, at least in theatre, since Peter Wood was a famous director of restoration comedy at the National Theatre, and John Bury had for many years collaborated with Sir Peter Hall at Glyndebourne and elsewhere. The cast assembled included a favourite performer, Anne Howells, returning after several years working elsewhere, as well as Ann Howard and Lillian Watson, and even Willard White in a small role. Raymond Leppard would conduct his own edition.

Somehow it all felt slightly flat and disappointing. It may just be that Orion, though a later work than Egisto, found Cavalli off-form, not inspired by a new librettist who lacked Faustini's talent for dramatic confection. Perhaps Leppard's editing was less fluent (perhaps he actually did less editing than before). Whatever the explanation, the sensation was widely felt that the enterprise was simply not in the same class as its predecessor, though the standard of performance was still superb.

 

Scottish Opera's Season - 1984/85

Scottish Opera's subscription season 1984-85 consisted of nine operas, including six new productions, one of which was a world premiere. They began with Cavalli's Orion, which received its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Festival before joining the season's repertoire. The other works given were Fidelio(revival), Rigoletto (revival), Capriccio, Bartered Bride (revival), Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Orlando and Hedda Gabler (Edward Harper world premiere).