Lift off for student opera

LOCAL STUDENT ensemble, Edinburgh Studio Opera, managed little short of a miracle by putting on an entire performance recorded using their singers’ webcams amid the heights of lockdown. The production, The Remarkable Rocket, was an adaptation of the Oscar Wilde short story of the same name, with various “best hits” from classic operas woven around the plot.

Student music groups have been hard-hit amid the pandemic, subject to often two or more sets of restrictions yet lacking the ample online resources of professional ensembles. But ESO made the best of some rudimentary technology to give the performance a flamboyant, if low-budget, aesthetic that strangely suited the zany sentiment of Wilde’s prose – a tongue-in-cheek moralising fable about a precocious anthropomorphised firework (yes, really!).

There were plenty of good performances and some exceptional ones, both from the more experienced soloists and the up-and-coming singers who performed duets or trios. The best singers leant into the strengths of their youthful voices with keen attention to not just the musical expression but also the textual detail.

If you’re looking for something with high production values then The Remarkable Rocket definitely isn’t for you. But if you’re willing to part with the modest sum of £5 (plus a small booking fee, or even less if you’re a student) to help aspiring singers keep doing what they love, you might find yourself charmed by this exuberant, if slightly make-do-and-mend performance.

To purchase your viewing of the online performance please visit: edinburghstudioopera.org