Scottish Opera hits the high notes at Maybole

Their magnificent annual Highlights tour, was an evening of fun for all the family with a programme of works by opera’s greatest composers.
Four singers and a pianist tour around Scotland but their train brakes down, some 25.3 miles outside Maybole.

While they wait for it to be repaired they sing and act out a variety of pressing matters which are not so straight forward. Perhaps this was practice for when they finally reached their destination.

Confined to the claustrophobic railway carriage, dreams and nightmares began to take a hold of the group. When they sang of jewels, revenge, gypsies and beheadings, their words were to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Some might say that being stuck in the middle of nowhere could encourage fantasies such as these. There were colourful costumes props, larger than life characters, and plenty of humour which had an audience of at least 100 people in stitches.

Perfect for both seasoned fans and those new to opera, the varied programme featured music by Mozart, Handel, Puccini, and Gilbert & Sullivan, and has been curated by Scottish Opera’s Head of Music, Derek Clark. Music from Hercules, La Traviata and The Magic Flute was also featured.

Each performance was witty, heartfelt, despite not being able to speak Latin, Italian or French, the acting and emotion portrayed by the cast allowed spectators to engage in each story, conflict, hardship and misfortune. 

But it was not all doom and gloom particularly when Marguerite discovers a mysterious casket of jewels . She could not believe ger luck.
The second act featured one of the first public performances of Bluebeard’s Cake by Lliam Paterson a short innovative new parody of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

It was created especially for the tour by Scottish Opera’s Composer where Madame Bluebeard lures her husband to the kitchen with a freshly baked chocolate gateau.

But all if not as it seems as there is a secret ingredient of poison.
This year’s cast was full of fresh new talent, including two Scottish Opera Emerging Artists, mezzo-soprano Emma Kerr and tenor Elgan Llyr Thomas, and two recent graduates of the National Opera Studio, soprano Roisín Walsh and baritone Adam Gilbert. 

But unfortunately Emma had come down with a throat infection. Although she was still on stage Sioned Gwen Davie sung from the wings.

Gwen was also invited to perform on stage another piece which was not on the programme. Her performance was outstanding and received a huge round of applause from the audience who were breath taken.

Former Scottish Opera Emerging Artist Repetiteur Jonathon Swinard returned to accompany the four turned five young singers on piano, and current Scottish Opera emerging artist and director Jim Manganello.

Jim Manganello said: “I’ve been blessed to haunt the Scottish Opera corridors for the past year, collaborating with our extraordinary and colourful team on stage and behind-the-scenes. 

“This year’s Opera Highlights is a celebration of what we all love about opera – the outsized characters, the towering dreams, the deep despairs – but translated into an intimate, up-close format that I hope is as captivating to the first-time opera goer as it is to the aficionado.

“I relish working with these funny, sassy, generous singers, and I can’t wait for audiences around Scotland to fall in love with them as I have.”

For more than a decade the Friends of Scottish Opera hace supported the tour giving thousands of people living outside cities the chance to enjoy live performances. The tour continues until March 18.