Review of Scottish Opera's performance at Thurso – 'the ensemble bought class to the stage'
Well-known Caithness disability campaigner Louise Smith turned her skills to reviewing an operatic performance at Thurso High School on Saturday (October 7).
The Scottish Opera Highlights Tour had a selection of classics on the school's stage and delighted the audience with a "romp through these excerpts", said Louise.
"They were knitted together by using them as the basis for a fictitious wedding between Oscar and Hugo – two characters not seen in the performance," she adds.
"The characters that did appear, such as a set of waiters, were played by the cast’s singers who all took on at least two roles. Simple costume and headwear changes made the four singers fill the stage, with baritone, Jerome Knox, a particular comedic delight with his perfect timing and delightful range of facial expressions.
"Soprano Katy Thomson’s powerful singing lifted several duets and quartets. Supported by tenor Innocent Masuku and mezzo-soprano Katherine Aitken, and even a requested voice from the audience, the ensemble bought class to the stage.
Louise said the singers were ably abetted by pianist and music director Toby Hession and the power of the orchestra was "felt through the piano’s keys as he conducted the singers, keeping them in check in places".
She said that spoken words were interspersed between the opera extracts to make the story flow better. "Some operatic sections lent themselves well to this event, such as ‘Papagena! Papagena!’ and ‘Pa pa pa..’ from Mozart’s The Magic Flute which ended the first half and the climax from three operas that were sung in English – Arthur Sullivan’s ‘Fair moon, to thee I sing’ from HMS Pinafore, William Walton’s ‘I was a constant, faithful wife’ from The Bear and Kurt Weill’s ‘The saga of Jenny’ from Lady in the Dark."
Louise's overall opinion was that it was "another successful visit to Caithness by Scottish Opera".
The Highlights Tour has been travelling to various venues across the country and is described as one-of-a-kind show created specifically for Scottish Opera. This year's programme is curated by Derek Clark and includes music from Mozart, Verdi, Donizetti, and Tchaikovsky, as well as a world premiere by Toby Hession.
Part of Scottish Opera's 2023/24 season, the tour is supported by Friends of Scottish Opera, JTH Charitable Trust and The Scottish Opera Endowment Trust.