Opera Scotland

Mikado 2005Carl Rosa Company (est 1998)

Read more about the opera Mikado

The new Carl Rosa company performed operetta - the works of Gilbert and Sullivan combined with classics from the Viennese repertoire, especially The Merry Widow. Standards of performance were high, with a mix of youth and experience on stage and an excellent band in the pit. For their production of The Mikado they were particularly fortunate in the availability of the sets and costumes produced for Mike Leigh's film Topsy-Turvy, which had dramatised events in 1885 as the work was composed. These were based on meticulous research into the original sets and costumes, designed by Hawes Craven and Wilhelm, respectively. Artistic Director of the Carl Rosa, Peter Mulloy, and veteran performer Eric Roberts carried out equally detailed work based on Gilbert's own staging, using the original prompt-book, but without imposing the straitjacket that seems to have marred later performances by the old D'Oyly Carte Company. The result was remarkably colourful, fresh and enjoyable.

A footnote to be observed is the presence of the character of Go-To. He sings the bass line in the madrigal in the second act on those occasions when the baritone, or even tenor, cast as Pish-Tush has a voice too high to be comfortable in that piece.