Showing @ Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 15-26 Feb @ 19:15 + Matinees & @ Festival Theatre Edinburgh 3 & 5 March @ 19:15
Listen to excerpts of Orlando:
Handel’s 18th Century opera has its first run north of the border in twenty-five years. This is a rarely performed piece which was first performed in 1733 in London and is only the fourth Handel opera performed by Scottish Opera in its 49 year history.
Originally set in the time of Charlemagne (8th and 9th Century France) this adaptation has been moved to 1940 and is set around the Battle of Britain. Written by Handel for the great alto-castrato ‘Senesino’, today’s Orlando – counter-tenor Tim Mead – fortunately has no need to worry about that rather delicate operation. The original storyline has Orlando, a great soldier in Charlemagne’s army, falling desperately in love with the pagan princess Angelica. This has been updated with Orlando an RAF pilot falling in love with an American socialite (Sally Silver), who is, in turn, in love with another man.
Conductor Paul Goodwin was awarded the Handel Music Prize in 2007 from the city of Halle (birthplace of Handel) in acknowledgment of his exceptional services to the performances of his vast catalogue. Harry Fehr’s direction brings new depths and meanings to the profound story while encapsulating the glamour of the 40s with designer Yannis Thavoris bringing wartime to the stage with a flourish.
With Scottish Opera bringing new and challenging pieces to the stage, we must try to support them in this time of austerity for the arts, before we lose them to government cuts.
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