Opera Highlights and must-hear rarities when national tour lands in Callander

Scottish Opera will give a concert of operatic classics and must-hear rarities at a concert in Callander in February.

It is part of a tour of Scotland by Opera Highlights comprising four singers and a pianist and follows 17 performances in autumn but this time with a new cast.

Set in a beautiful garden, director Roxana Haines’production features a playlist curated by Scottish Opera’s Head of Music Derek Clark.

Highlights include Delibes’‘Flower Duet’, Vaughan Williams’‘Blue larkspur in a garden’ and many more from the likes of Mozart, Lehár and Scottish Opera Composer in Residence, Samuel Bordoli.

Scottish Opera 2019/20 Emerging Artist repetiteur Michael Papadopoulos is the pianist/music director and is joined by soprano Zoe Drummond; mezzo-soprano Jade Moffat; tenor Andrew Irwin and baritone Arthur Bruce, who is The Robertson Trust Scottish Opera Emerging Artist this season.

Roxana Haines, who directed Scottish Opera’s hit Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Fox-tot! this summer, said:“After a successful autumn tour I am pleased to revive this Opera Highlights show, where the cast cordially invite you to a party on your doorstep.

“This spring we have a brand new cast to guide you through our story which takes place in luscious gardens and magical flora and fauna of opera.

“The stage has been set, decorations unpacked and the guests have all arrived but, the problem is we’re still not sure whose party this is.

“As the evening progresses, the connections between our characters unravel through music from the likes of Handel, Donizetti and Mozart, and lighter pieces from Gilbert & Sullivan and Vaughan Williams as well as a new work by Samuel Bordoli.

“Prepare for an evening of charm, magic and love in all its operatic forms in a show that highlights the joy and absurdity of opera.’

The Opera Highlights tour is supported by The Friends of Scottish Opera, JTH Charitable Trust and The Scottish Opera EndowmentTrust.

Tickets for the show at McLaren High School are on sale from December 11.