Scottish Opera is the national

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

company of Scotland, and one of the five

national performing arts companies of Scotland Scotland's national performing arts companies are directly funded by the Scottish Government. In the country's performing arts circles, they are often referred to as the Big Five.''Scottish arts face £2 million funding cut'', ''The Daily Telegr ...

. Founded in 1962 and based in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, it is the largest

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

organisation in Scotland.

History

Scottish Opera was founded by conductor Alexander Gibson in 1962. In 1975 it purchased the Theatre Royal in Glasgow from

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

re-opening it as the first national opera house for Scotland in October 1975 with ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original ...

''. In March 2005, the management of the Theatre Royal was transferred to the

Ambassador Theatre Group The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is a major international theatre organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking (head office), London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ATG's key operations comprise three in ...

, but remains the home of Scottish Opera and of Scottish Ballet. Scottish Opera dealt with various financial troubles, related to lack of funding and accusations of fiscal profligacy, during the first part of the 2000s. Its cycle of Richard Wagner's ''Ring'' was critically acclaimed, but also was highly draining of the company's financial resources. In 2004, a financial restructuring plan had called for the elimination of 88 jobs, including all 34 members of the chorus, and the suspension of the entire 2005–06 season. In protest, Sir Richard Armstrong announced his resignation in December 2004, effective at the end of the 2004–05 season. Alex Reedijk became general director of the company in 2006. In August 2007, effective the same month, the company announced the appointment of Francesco Corti as its next music director. Recent commissions include the Five:15 Operas Made in Scotland, part of a five-year research and development project to find the next generation of opera-makers, composers and librettists.

Awards

The company has won awards, including the Barclays

TMA Award The UK Theatre Awards, established in 1991 and known before 2011 as the TMA Awards, are presented annually by UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in regional thea ...

for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' and ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'' (both in 1994) and for ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

'' and ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'' (both in 2002), as well as the

South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

Award for "Best Opera" for the ''

Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelun ...

'' (2004) and a Herald Angel Award for ''

The Two Widows ''The Two Widows'' ( cz, Dvĕ vdovy) is a two-act Czech opera by Bedřich Smetana based on the libretto of Emanuel Züngel. The libretto is based on Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefille's one-act play ''Les deux veuves''. The opera was composed betwe ...

'' at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

in 2008.

Foreign tours

Scottish Opera has also staged many successful productions abroad, including ''

Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera ''The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Croz ...

'' in Florence, ''

Egisto (opera) ''L'Egisto'' (''Aegisthus'') is a 1643 opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. It was designated as a ''favola dramatica musicale''. The Italian libretto was by Giovanni Faustini, his second text for Cavalli. Performance history ...

'' in Venice, tours in Germany, Austria, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Iceland and recent years including ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

'' and ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was compose ...

'' in Lisbon; ''Macbeth'' at the Vienna International Festival and the European premiere of MacMillan's ''Ines de Castro'' in Porto, Portugal.

Music directors

* Sir Alexander Gibson (1962–86) *

John Mauceri John Francis Mauceri (born September 12, 1945) is an American conductor, producer, educator and writer. Since making his professional conducting debut almost half a century ago, he has appeared with most of the world's great orchestras, guest-con ...

(1986–92) * Sir Richard Armstrong (1992–2005) * Francesco Corti (2007 – July 2013) * Emmanuel Joel-Hornack (July 2013 – September 2013) * Stuart Stratford (June 2015–Present)

Notes

References

* Magnusson, Magnus (1963), ''The Opera Makers'', in ''New Saltire'' No. 8, June 1963, New Saltire Ltd., Edinburgh, pp. 5 - 18 * *

External links

Scottish Opera

Glasgow Theatre Royal Heritage project website
{{Authority control 1962 establishments in Scotland Musical groups established in 1962

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

British opera companies Music in Glasgow Theatre companies in Scotland Organisations based in Glasgow Scottish opera companies