Opera Scotland

Ballo delle Ingrate 2009St Andrews Opera

Read more about the opera Ballo delle ingrate

Marketed under the intriguing title Heaven or Hell, this was an enterprising choice for the opening production by this welcome new operatic venture, based at the University, with a mixture of professional and student performers. Local resident Ann Baird, having sung Amore during her time with Scottish Opera, and subsequently worked with Scottish Ballet, was an appropriate choice for director. The second half of the double bill was a more conventional choice, in Dido and Aeneas.

The second year, the choice fell on Britten's Rape of Lucretia, and the third production was another double bill of rarities - The Judgment of Paris by Purcell's contemporary John Eccles, coupled with Lennox Berkeley's witty Dinner Engagement. Clearly, St Andrews Opera will be worth following.