Opera Bohemia is an opera company based in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

that performs operas throughout the country. The operas are adapted for small venues and are often performed in remote communities. The company began presenting operas in 2010.

History

Opera Bohemia was established by two Scottish musicians, conductor Alistair Digges and baritone Douglas Nairne, with the aim of presenting opera across Scotland, introducing opera to a wider audience, especially to a younger generation, and creating opportunities for young artists. Opera performances have taken place towns and cities all across

, from the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

in the West Highlands, to the east coast, to the Scottish borders, to the Central Belt and to the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Operas are adapted for a small stage and a small cast with no chorus. A piano and solo instrument often replace an orchestra. For larger scale performances the company performs with The Bohemia Ensemble, a chamber orchestra.

Productions and performers

Each new production leads to tours which include remote and small venues. The company has staged productions of La bohème, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly, Eugene Onegin, Gianni Schicchi, Les pêcheurs de perles, La traviata and Falstaff. A 10th anniversary tour of The Merry Widow toured 18 venues and reached an audience of four thousand people across Scotland. The company has toured twice to England including a performance of Madama Butterfly in London's Middle Temple. In the first

production of

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

, Mimi was played by international star

Pumeza Matshikiza Pumeza Matshikiza (born 27 February 1979) is a South-African operatic soprano. A graduate of the Royal College of Music and a member of the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artists Programme from 2007 to 2009, she made her début as a flower ma ...

. For

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

in 2012 another international star, Australian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Suzanne Shakespeare, performed Lucia. Regular lead performers include the soprano Catriona Clark and baritone Andrew McTaggart. Alistair Digges has conducted all orchestral performances. The majority of productions, including the inaugural production of La bohème, have been directed by Fife born director John Wilkie, with others by Tom Cooper, Douglas Nairne, Adrian Osmond and Lissa Lorenzo.

Funding

Opera Bohemia has received

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

Lottery Funding and funding from a number of trusts, companies and individuals.

External links

Official site

References

* * * * {{authority control British opera companies