Scottish Opera is no stranger to controversy, having staged some pretty off-the-wall productions in the past. La Boheme set in an office, The Magic Flute on the moon… and now Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers relocated to a TV studio filming a soap called Algiers, complete with sharp jackets, hairy chests and bikini-clad girls. The production, first staged at New Zealand Opera, uses green screen technology to create the look of the soap. How are Scottish audiences reacting to this hi-tech approach to opera? Singer Paul Carey Jones tells us about himself and the show.

JM: The obvious question first – how did you get into singing?

PCJ: It started off as a hobby while I was at school in Cardiff, but by my early 20s it had become such a serious hobby that I knew I’d have to let it reach a natural end or bite the bullet and study full-time. I already had my degree in Physics, so I went to the Royal Academy of Music for postgraduate training.

JM: Are you enjoying working with Scottish Opera?

PCJ: They’re great! When I finished my training at the National Opera Studio, Scottish Opera gave me my first professional job, covering Angelotti in Tosca. As a cover you watch a lot of principal rehearsals, so it’s a very useful learning process. For all the things you learn at college, your real learning as a professional starts when you begin your first job, so Scottish Opera has been important to my development. I’ve worked there every season for the past five years. Plenty of people are willing to give young singers praise and encouragement, but Scottish Opera backs that up with offers of work. When I first started they were in difficult times, but there was always a positive atmosphere. Now every organisation faces challenging times, but challenges are the point of being an artist.

JM: Tell us about the character you play in The Italian Girl in Algiers.

PCJ: Haly is a pirate captain in the original version of the opera, and in this production he’s interpreted as a henchman/bodyguard/sidekick to Mustafa. This kind of character crops up in nearly every Italian comic opera in one guise or another, and that’s what this production does quite cleverly – it takes stock characters and reinterprets them in a new context while leaving them recognisable as old favourites.

This technology hasn’t really been used in this way before, alongside live performance

JM: How have you found working with the green screens?

PCJ: An interesting challenge! This technology hasn’t really been used in this way before, alongside live performance. As a stage performer you’re used to creating stage pictures that the audience sees directly, but in this production you also have to think about what they’re seeing on the big screen above the stage. I’ve done some TV work, and the precision needed is very different to the level you need on stage. On stage you have to be within about a foot of your mark, but on screen it’s more like a couple of inches.  Thankfully the entire technical set-up was in place from an early stage in the rehearsal process, and it was great to get that constant feedback, the way you only usually do when you’re recording. I think it would actually be quite useful to film a part of every rehearsal period!

JM: Did you find it more difficult to focus on the singing while working with the screens?

PCJ: Being a singer is such a juggling act anyway that actually the technical aspect wasn’t that problematic. We always have to think about several different things at once! One of the reasons for training as hard as we do is so that your technique is solid enough that singing is the last thing you have to worry about as it’s so carefully ingrained.

Traditional and off-beat productions boil down to the same thing: making sense of something written a long time ago

JM: Do you have any preference for performing in more traditional or more off-beat productions?

PCJ: They both boil down to the same thing, trying to make sense of something written a long time ago. It’s important to remember that opera is not just what’s written on a page, it’s what appears on stage every night. It’s really a question of authenticity, and authenticity is about creating something with a life of its own, true to the ideas of the composer and librettist. You can judge both kinds of production the same way – does it make sense on its own terms?

JM: How have Scottish audiences been reacting to Algiers?

PCJ: They’ve gone for it 100%. Before opening night I thought we might find it hit or miss, that some audiences would get it and others wouldn’t. I’ve done comedies in the past where the audience hasn’t gone along with it and it can be awkward, but comedy has to risk falling flat on its face. So far this hasn’t.

JM: Would you recommend Algiers as a suitable introduction to opera for first-timers?

PCJ: Art is all about personal preference, but yes, I would. Actually, this season’s two operas represent two very different approaches to 19th century opera. L’elisir d’amore is very beautiful and traditional, The Italian Girl in Algiers takes the piece by the scruff of the neck and drags it into the present day. Some people will prefer one, some will prefer the other, but they’re both good to start on – I’d suggest seeing both!

Both shows are at the Festival Theatre showing alternate nights from 25th-28th Nov with previews on the 21st and 22nd.