Opera Scotland

Intermezzo 1965Bavarian State Opera, Munich

Read more about the opera Intermezzo

This was the first appearance in Britain of this much underestimated domestic comedy, which was the right scale for performance in the King’s Theatre.  The production originated in Vienna before transferring to Munich with the same principals.  Jean-Pierre Ponnelle began his career as a designer, but soon developed as a director so that he would take overall control of most of the stagings he worked on.

Hermann Prey and Hanny Steffek were as famous for their performances of Viennese operetta as for serious opera,  and that skill stood them in good stead in the witty verbal duelling the husband and wife are required to undertake in this mercurial comedy.

 

The 1965 Festival programme

The 1965 Edinburgh Festival presented an interesting group of five works.  The foreign guest company was the Bavarian State Opera, from Munich, making its only Edinburgh appearance - their own Munich Festival tends to run around the same time.  The two pieces they brought were a beautifully cast,  if conventional, staging of  Così fan tutte, and the British premiere of a then little-known Strauss comedy,  Intermezzo.  The English Opera Group brought Albert Herring,  which was just returning to the repertoire.  The Festival itself mounted two operas in conjunction with the Holland Festival which was also run by Festival director Peter Diamand.  These were a staging of Don Giovanni and a delightful introduction to Haydn opera, with Le pescatrici.