Opera Scotland

Betrothal in a Monastery 1990Bolshoi Opera, Moscow

Read more about the opera Betrothal in a Monastery (Duenna)

This delightful comedy derived from Sheridan is rarely performed in Britain. However Sheridan's own work, The Duenna, a form of semi-opera with music by the Linleys (father and son), is itself a rarity. This Russian staging, its Scottish premiere, was not ideal as a production, with rather too much emphasis on the farcical and anti-clerical aspects, but it was musically very strong, with two casts on alternate nights.

The students at the Scottish Academy put this opera on in 1997. Later, as part of the collaboration with Scottish Opera (and as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) a more ambitious production was put on in 2012 (see separate listing).

Gergiev recorded the work with his Mariinsky forces in 1997, and a successful production at Glyndebourne followed in 2006, so perhaps the opera is at last on the way to being more widely staged.