Back to basics for Scottish Opera?

Alex Reedijk, general manager of Scottish Opera. Picture: Donald Macleod

THIS week’s announcement by Scottish Opera of its 2013-14 season needs a bit of explaining. Despite having only three mainstay productions, all is not as dismal as it may seem, given that the cause of it is the completion of construction work on an exciting new frontispiece to its home base at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow.

And while those three main productions remain reflective of leaner times for the company, they are only part of a bigger performance picture that general manager Alex Reedijk constantly describes as his “balanced basket”.

He’s very keen that the opening of the new building – a splendid modern corner extension at the top of Hope Street adjoining the existing Victorian theatre – is symbolic of recent efforts to reshape the company as a leaner, fitter one that now offers multiple scale activity to as many corners of Scotland (and beyond) as it can.

So it’s no coincidence that the opera chosen to mark the reopening of the theatre on 21 June 2014, following a ten-week closure to join up the buildings, will be Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

“We chose it for a number of reasons,” he says. “Firstly, we haven’t done it since 2007, when David McVicar created such a wonderful version, so it was time to do that production again. Just as important, it was the opera that opened the company 50 years ago, so it seemed right to go full circle.”

Madama Butterfly will actually open in Edinburgh prior to Glasgow. “That was designed to give us some wriggle room in the Theatre Royal, where we would have required about ten days’ extra rehearsal, and we didn’t want to burden the completion of the new building.”

That £11.45 million project itself is a sign that Scottish Opera has regained the confidence of its backers. Behind its funding are the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, the Heritage Lottery and Creative Scotland, whose contributions amount to half the overall budget. The rest has come from trusts, foundations and individuals.

What Scottish Opera will get for its money is a welcoming public facility with four floors of foyers, roof terrace, education suite, hosting spaces and an all-day café.

“I feel we’ve been helped by the fact that, coming into the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow felt it needed a building that said, ‘Here’s where the Theatre Royal is; here’s where Scottish Opera is; here’s where Glasgow is,’” says Reedijk.

Madama Butterfly will also represent Emmanuel Joel-Hornak’s first main stage appearance as new musical director in succession to the outgoing Francesco Corti. The newly appointed French conductor will already have featured in the season, directing a revival of Dominic Hill’s small-scale 2005 production of Verdi’s Macbeth at Glasgow’s Citizens’ Theatre and the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh. But it’s clear that Reedijk views his Puccini appearance as symbolic of a renewed stability in the musical life of the company.

“Over the last 18 years he’s had four adventures with us, conducting La belle Hélène, Aïda, La traviata and Hansel and Gretel. I have been very taken by how he could work across languages – a Frenchman conducting Italian and Germanic repertoire – and also how he got on with the orchestra,” says Reedijk.

Aside from such celebratory moments, though, what can opera goers look forward to next season? Sir Thomas Allen continues his directorial link with the company in the season opener – a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Lisa Milne as Donna Elvira and under the musical direction of Speranza Scappuci, her Scottish Opera debut.

Early in the new year, director-designer duo Renaud Doucet and André Barbe team up with Francesco Corti for a new production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, while the Theatre Royal closure period in Spring provides an opportunity to mark Corti’s departure with a concert performance of Puccini’s Turandot at the Usher Hall, featuring Clare Rutter and Ryland Davies.

A new small-scale production of Handel’s Rodelinda will tour some of Scotland’s smaller community venues, and the highly regarded education and outreach work continues with a new Christmas show for 3-6 year olds, Platypus in Boots, as well as revivals of the groundbreaking interactive shows for toddlers, BabyO and SensoryO.

But before all that, there’s a busy summer ahead, with performances at the Edinburgh International Festival and at the Fringe – Olga Neuwirth’s American Lulu for the former – a highly criticised reworking of Alban Berg’s Lulu; and a revival of Kally Lloyd-Jones’ production of Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins at the latter.

“American Lulu was originally jointly commissioned by Komische Oper Berlin and The Opera Group, and premiered last year in Berlin. The word is it was under-rehearsed,” says Reedijk. So, in partnership with The Opera Group, the Young Vic and Bregenzer Festspiele, he is confident a more convincing outcome can be realised. “We will ensure the conditions are right for director John Fulljames to deliver his vision of the piece properly.”

So, Scottish Opera is busy, in a way that is suited to its current funding status. The books are balanced and there is optimism expressed through the various changes and developments coming to fruition in the coming year. But how confident is Reedijk that even this status quo can be sustained?

“We’re currently in a period of stability, and there’s not going to be a period of growth for the foreseeable future. If the economy doesn’t improve soon, though, it’s hard to see that our lives won’t get a bit more complicated. Like everyone else, we’re making every effort to grow our sources of other funding.”

And what if independence comes our way? “I don’t think much will change in the short to medium term. What gives me confidence is that the current and previous first ministers have used the five national performing arts companies to articulate a kind of confidence in the nation. It’s helped too that we’ve managed to stay out of the news for the dumb stuff.”

Scottish Opera is playing safe, it seems, but not at the expense of some progress.

• For full information on Scottish Opera’s 2013-14 season, see www.scottishopera.org.uk