Culture is back with Scottish Opera – Thurso woman's delight at Wick event

Louise Smith from Thurso was so blown over by a special Scottish Opera event at Wick Assembly Rooms that she put pen to paper to write a critique for the Caithness Courier.

The touring production of Opera Highlights had music meticulously curated by Scottish Opera’s head of music Derek Clark and combined repertoire favourites with lesser-known pieces.

Louise said: "Life in the Caithness post-lockdown cultural desert has ended; Thursday saw the arrival of the Scottish Opera Highlights Tour at Wick Assembly Rooms.

"An ensemble of four singers and pianist held the audience’s attention for the two-hour performance of around 20 operatic extracts, moulded together into a theatrical piece. The individual songs were linked together by unmentionable methods which, if revealed this early in the tour, would be spoilers.

"Soprano, Holly Teague’s, storytelling skills were at the fore, helping the flow between songs, ably helped by tenor, Andrew Henley, and baritone, Colin Murray, with their very comfortable comedy double act. The beautiful tones of mezzo-soprano, Annie Reilly, led you to think you were in a much more prestigious venue in Edinburgh.

"Scenes from productions such as the Magic Flute and Macbeth were made to be a great fit with the overall story of Love and all of its frailties. The staging was simple and effective making packing up to get onto the next venue very quick. The tour also takes in other far flung places such as Kirkwall, Portree, Oban and Ullapool.

"Attendance, although healthy, was not sold out but please Scottish Opera don’t let this stop you returning to Caithness and other lesser known destinations. The joy of this quality night out will keep us going until the next time."

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