Festival Review: Bluebeard’s Castle

Megan Amato reviews Bluebeard’s Castle. When I was first given the program for the upcoming International Festival, I immediately clicked yes for Bluebeard’s Castle without much thought.  As a lover of classic fairy tales reimagined through different mediums, I assumed I was in for Bela Bartok’s classic operatic tale of a woman forcing open doors…

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Pianist Malcolm Martineau on getting ready for Music at Paxton

World leading pianist Malcolm Martineau has played in Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Milan, Berlin, throughout the UK and in North America accompanying many of the world’s best singers. Ahead of his performance at this year’s Music at Paxton – the Scottish chamber music festival in the Borders – Malcolm, from Edinburgh, talks to Scottish Field…

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Edinburgh Playhouse

THE new production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming to Edinburgh Playhouse this month. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical tells the devilishly delicious tale of young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket and the mysterious confectionary wizard Willy Wonka. The tour will come to the Edinburgh Playhouse on Wednesday…

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Scottish Opera names 60th emerging artist

SCOTTISH Opera is marking its 60th anniversary by appointing its 60th emerging artist. The opera company’s emerging artists perform on stage, as well as working in-house with staff and visiting coaches to develop their skills. The programme began in 2009 and has since expanded to include behind-the-scenes roles in addition to opera singers. This year’s…

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REVIEW: Ellen Kent’s Madama Butterfly

Ellen Kent’s production of Madama Butterfly elicits parallels with the war in Ukraine, writes Megan Amato. NOT a dry eye could be seen by the end of Giacomo Puccini’s classic Italian opera Madama Butterfly at the Edinburgh Playhouse on 30 April, performed by the Ukrainian National Municipal Opera Kyiv, presented by Senbla, and produced by…

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Engaging people with dementia through music and art

Memory Spinners, Scottish Opera’s project designed to engage with people living with dementia through music and art, has begun. Sessions are taking place at Glasgow’s St Columba’s Church and Holy Trinity Church Hall in St Andrews. Having launched in 2012, the sessions were put on hold for two years during the pandemic and this is…

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Paisley Opera’s brand new translation of Cavalleria Rustica

Professional soloists and the Amicus orchestra will join Paisley Opera’s full community chorus in a new production of Mascagni’s romantic masterpiece Cavalleria Rusticana, with a new, specially commissioned ‘Paisley’ translation. There will be four performances running from Friday 29 April to Monday 2 May, at a new outdoor covered venue in Paisley. Conducted by Alistair…

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Scottish Opera helping those with lung health issues

A new block of sessions for Breath Cycle, Scottish Opera’s project designed to benefit those suffering from a range of conditions affecting lung health, in particular Long Covid, begin online on January 26. Breath Cycle has been highly successful in its first term, with participants reporting improvement in a range of areas, such as anxiety,…

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Artists hook up with promoters at Celtic Connections

MORE than 100 international promoters, agents, and record label executives are gathering online for the 21st annual “Showcase Scotland” exposition. The trade show runs alongside the Celtic Connections music festival. Artists usually generate around £3 million in gig bookings and album sales on the back of the industry event. Megan Henderson, who plays fiddle in…

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The very model of a modern music library

SCOTTISH Opera has bought a library full of Gilbert and Sullivan works, which it will hire out to performers across the UK and continental Europe. The D’Oyly Carte music hire library sold 86 crates of music to Scottish Opera. It’s taken the Scottish team three weeks to sort through the crates. Some rarer items are…

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