Opera Scotland

Così fan tutte 1975Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Così fan tutte

Scottish Opera's first Theatre Royal subscription season (1975-76) contained ten operas in total, played in sequence. The gala Fledermaus was followed by short runs of Otello, Hermiston, Ariadne on Naxos, Così fan tutte, The Golden Cockerel, Die Fledermaus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly and Falstaff. The Otello had been seen regularly since 1963, the Falstaff only once before, in 1966. Fledermaus had been launched during the summer while Hermiston had been premiered at the recent Edinburgh Festival - both were previously unseen in Glasgow. The only productions that were brand new were Ariadne and Rimsky-Korsakov's Golden Cockerel, unseen in Scotland for half a century, and only occasionally since then at Covent Garden.

The company took the opportunity to celebrate with a brief revival of the classic Anthony Besch staging of Così fan tutte, returning Elizabeth Harwood, Janet Baker and Peter van der Bilt to their original roles from 1967 and 1969. Alexander Young and Patricia Hay had got to know the staging at the previous revival in 1972, so, of the singers, only Thomas Hemsley was entirely new to it.

For the first time Gary Bertini conducted the production. He was a frequent visitor to Scotland, through his role as the SNO's chief guest conductor.