Scottish Opera has revealed a series of digital and live performances for its winter 2020-21 season, with productions of Così fan tutte (Women Are Like That, Mozart, 1790) and Hansel and Gretel (Humperdink, 1893), as well as a live performance from Scottish Opera Young Company.
The first digital offering will be a contemporary adaptation of Mozart’s exuberant comedy of infidelities Così fan tutte, directed by Roxanna Haines. Filmed at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal, this new concert performance reimagines the story as a game for today, in which the lovers’ loyalties are put to the ultimate test – is this reality TV or social experiment?
Music Director Stuart Stratford will conduct the Orchestra of Scottish Opera. Scottish Opera’s 2020-21 Emerging Artists soprano Catriona Hewitson and mezzo-soprano Margo Arsane play the two sisters whose faithfulness is put to the test. Tenor Shengzhi Ren and baritone Arthur Bruce take the parts of their lovers.
The online production will be available to watch via Scottish Opera’s website from 13 December. It is free to watch, but audiences can donate if they wish to.
January will see a digital concert performance of Humperdinck’s take on the much-loved fairytale, Hansel and Gretel, directed by Daisy Evans, with a translation by David Pountney.
David Parry will conduct a cast that includes Kathleen Ferrier Award-winner Kitty Whately as Hansel, Rhian Lois as Gretel, ENO Harewood Artist Nadine Benjamin as Gertrude and The Witch, Phillip Rhodes as Peter and Charlie Drummond as Sandman and Dew Fairy.
Looking further ahead into 2021, Scottish Opera will be celebrating 50 years of its Outreach and Education department. Specially commissioned to mark this anniversary, the Scottish Opera Young Company (SOYC) will perform the world premiere of Rubble by composer Gareth Williams, with lyrics by Johnny McKnight.
SOYC members have already begun meeting via Zoom in preparation for the live production in Glasgow on 31 July and 1 August 2021. The show will see the company back on stage for the first time since lockdown.
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The Scottish Opera Young Company will perform the world premiere of Rubble in 2021 as part of Scottish Opera’s celebrations of 50 years of its Outreach and Education department.