Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

REVIEW: Scottish Opera opens 50th Perth Festival in fine style

Scottish Opera in fine voice for the opening of the Perth Festival of the Arts on its 50th anniversary.
Scottish Opera in fine voice for the opening of the Perth Festival of the Arts on its 50th anniversary.

For half a century, Perth Festival of the Arts has been delivering a mix of comedy, classical music, jazz, opera and theatre to thousands of concert-goers.

It has put the city firmly on the cultural map and regularly attracts the finest performers from across the globe.

It was fitting that Scottish Opera were given the honour of opening this year’s festival, the 50th, as they had performed two operas during the very first festival in 1972.

A treat for opera fans

For opera fans, Perth’s Concert Hall on Thursday night was the place to be.

Such an august occasion needed some sort of fanfare to herald another exciting and varied few days in the Fair City.

Shostakovich’s Festive Overture has no operatic connections, but the word “festive” meant it fitted the occasion perfectly. As a curtain raiser, it’s ideal. Full of vigour, full of excitement, full of colour.

The opening of the second half DID have an operatic connection, Wagner’s overture to Die Meistersingers.

Five soloists were a joy

Another excellent intro, and although the two overtures didn’t have anything in common, they did showcase the excellent Orchestra of Scottish Opera.

As did the Intermezzo from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and the excerpt from Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel.

It was fitting that Scottish Opera opened the 50th Perth Festival of the Arts, as they opened the first one in 1972.

Then it was up to the five soloists to weave a wonderful operatic web.

It was a joy to witness this quintet of established and emerging artists – sopranos Eleanor Dennis and Catriona Hewitson, mezzos Catriona Morison and Lea Shaw and baritone Jonathan McGovern – delivering arias, duets or trios of extremely high quality.

There was versatility too as the programme took us from the darkness of Massenet to the lightness of Mozart via the passion of Puccini and the enchantment of Humperdinck.

A great mix of ‘pot boilers’

What I liked particularly about the programme was the mix of “pot boilers” like La ci darem a mano with the lesser-known works like Puccini’s Edgar and, to a lesser extent, Der Rosenkavalier.

Some of the ensemble works are rarely seen outwith the context of their particular opera, but they proved they can easily stand alone in their own right.

Catriona Morrison set the ball rolling with a wonderfully sultry Seguedille from Carmen, before McGovern swaggered onto the stage to deliver an explosive Toreador’s song.

Passion was at the forefront of Scottish Opera’s opening performance.

He also showed a good grasp of comedy as Papageno as well as passion in the aria from Edgar, a rare stand-along baritone aria.

Eleanor Dennis’ Dove Sono and Catriona Hewitson’s O Mio Babbino Caro were also stand-outs with Lea Shaw – not nearly as involved as the others – proving her burgeoning talent with her Mozart and Bizet contributions.

You’ve heard of the Fab Four. Well, this was the Fab Five.

Wonderful melodies, exceptional singing and superb musicians. That’s three boxes ticked. A successful start to the festival? Better tick that one too.