If music be the food of love, play on, wrote Shakespeare. But if music sprinkled with Italian sunshine and served with a cheeky wee side order of fun is your idea of heaven, then make tracks to Drumnadrochit tonight, Haddo House near Ellon this weekend and Oban before the month is out.
Scottish Opera is currently taking part in a 17-date national tour presenting a new production of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. The company’s music director, Stuart Stratford – who attracted rave reviews for his work on Rusalka and Opera Holland Park’s Iris earlier this year – conducts the first six performances with Derek Clark, Scottish Opera’s head of music, taking over on the remaining dates.
Young British director Oliver Platt and designer Oliver Townsend (Rodelinda 2013) take inspiration from the world of PG Wodehouse for their staging of this production in which five players from the orchestra of Scottish Opera accompany a talented cast who perform along with a chorus of five singers, in a new instrumental arrangement for violin, viola, cello, horn and guitar by Derek Clark.
Audiences can look forward to a decidedly tongue-in-cheek take on Donizetti’s lyrical score, with highlights such as Una furtiva lagrima and Dulcamara’s patter songs.
Ellie Laugharne (The Pirates of Penzance 2013) takes on the role of Adina and is joined by acclaimed baritones James Cleverton and Toby Girling, as well as Scottish Opera Emerging Artists Elgan Llyr Thomas, winner of 2015’s prestigious Stuart Burrows International Voice Award, and Glasgow-born Hazel McBain.
Music director Stuart Stratford said: “The Elixir of Love is full of fantastic melodies, a witty plot and it is shot through with a bolt of Italian sunshine which permeates all of the music. I am very excited to be conducting this new chamber realisation of the score arranged by our head of music Derek Clark and can’t wait to visit the further reaches of our country to share this incredible piece with the people of Scotland.”
Director Oliver Platt said: “Elixir offers a joyous couple of hours of escape. It is the perfect opera: boisterous, fun-filled and fast-paced, with the ideal mixture of comedy and romance.”
Performances take place at the Craigmonie Centre, Glen Urquhart High School, Drumnadrochit, Thursday, at 7.30pm; Haddo House, near Ellon, on Saturday, at 7.30pm; and Thursday, October 20, at 7.30pm at the Corran Halls, Oban. For tickets visit www.scottishopera.org.uk
Classical music fans also have much more to look forward to in the next few weeks as Scottish Opera’s hit production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, directed by the great British baritone Sir Thomas Allen, opens the company’s 2016/17 season on Wednesday, October 12, at the Theatre Royal Glasgow. A revival of the much-loved 2010 staging, it then tours to various cities including Aberdeen in October and Inverness in November.
November is also when a unique event will take place when Scottish Opera and Festival Theatre Edinburgh present the UK’s first Dementia Friendly opera performance at the Festival Theatre on Saturday, November 12 at 3pm.