Edinburgh Opera & Theatre
Janáček, Puccini, Chekhov
- Scottish Opera’s 2010 season offers Puccini’s La Bohème: a modern production, not its usual 19th-century setting, and The Adventures of Mr Brouček, a rarity among Janáček’s operas.
- A new version of Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, by Scottish playwright John Byrne, at The Royal Lyceum Theatre.
- A selective programme of walks and visits, and talks by a musicologist.
- Stay at the 5-star Balmoral on Princes Street.
Edinburgh is enjoying something of a renaissance since the return of an elected devolved government after three hundred years of rule from Westminster. There are few cities with a more dramatic topography, with the great volcanic crags of Castle Rock and Arthur’s Seat marking the skyline, and the huge fortress of the Castle dominating both the Old Town and the Georgian New Town, with Princes Street running down the ravine that divides them.
The two operas on this tour, The Adventures of Mr Brouček and La Bohème, form Scottish Opera’s summer season. Janáček’s opera about the Prague landlord Mr Brouček (his name means Mr Beetle) was based on two satirical novels by Svatopluk Cech, one sending Brouček to the moon, and the other projecting him back to the heroic days of the fifteenth century. The two parts of The Adventures show Janáček at his most characteristic, and it is his only comic opera. La bohème needs little introduction, and Scottish Opera’s lively and innovative production has earned excellent reviews.
Chekhov wrote The Cherry Orchard, a study of an aristocratic family facing the sale and destruction of its estate with its famous fruit trees, as a comedy, but from its first production it was played as a tragedy, and both elements fight for supremacy in a way that challenges directors and audiences alike. This new version is by the Scottish playwright John Byrne, directed by Tony Cownie. The Royal Lyceum Theatre was built in 1883, and is a beautiful example of a late Victorian theatre.
Edinburgh is set about with castles and chapels, museums and galleries. The afternoons are free for independent visits, but in the mornings there are walks (starting at 9.45 a.m.) with specially arranged tours in a few selected places. These include Rosslyn Chapel, the masterpiece of intricate late-Gothic architecture with its stone filigree Prentice Column; Usher Hall (1910), Edinburgh’s most elegant music venue (due to re-open in late 2009 after three years of restoration and structural redevelopment); and the new and highly controversial Parliament, widely regarded as one of the finest of recent buildings in Britain.
The hotel is the Balmoral, belonging to the elite Rocco Forte group and perhaps the best in Edinburgh. Formerly the North British, it is built over Waverley Station, has a frontage on Princes Street and enjoys views of Edinburgh Castle. It is located about fifteen minutes on foot from the Festival Theatre.
Read the itinerary
Comments from participants in 2009:
‘Very interesting visits as well as opera.’
G. & P. H., Greater Manchester
‘Both operas excellent productions.’
S. & V. Y., Cornwall
‘Our lecturer could not have looked after us better. His pre-opera lectures were informative and entertaining and his company was a pleasure.’
K. K., Cambridgeshire