Opera Scotland

Cunning Little Vixen 1991Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Cunning Little Vixen

Good as his other stagings in the five opera Janáček cycle were, the Pountney production of the Vixen always seemed extra special, with words like 'definitive' being bandied about. Of course even a great production can only be definitive for a limited period, as taste moves on. Nevertheless, when the RSAMD students exhumed it in 2011 it was very encouraging to see how well it survived the years.  Indeed, in 2019, Welsh National Opera provided another revival, greeted with complete delight by audiences on their touring circuit. Perhaps it will be seen in Scotland again.

This was, as yet, the final revival by Scottish Opera, and it stood up well.  The major change in thinking came with the substitution of a soprano voice for the previous tenor for the Fox.  Rita Cullis made a hilariously vain coxcomb who thoroughly justified the change.  It may be that the choice between voices is less important that effectiveness of the chosen singer in acting the part (Arthur Davies in the original cast was certainly not to be forgotten).  Alan Opie also came in as a youthfully warm-voiced Forester.

 

Scottish Opera's Season - 1990/91

The 1990/91 season of Scottish Opera featured nine operas, most notably the world premiere of a new piece by Judith Weir, The Vanishing Bridegroom and the British premiere of an unknown American work, Regina by Mark Blitzstein. The three other new productions were Les Troyens, Fidelio and Falstaff. There were also revivals of Bohème,  Tosca, The Cunning Little Vixen and The Barber of Seville. It was also the first season in which the company introduced supertitles, though not yet when the work was being sung in English.