Opera Scotland

Turn of the Screw 1979Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Turn of the Screw

The 1979 Festival featured operas from two British companies. Kent Opera made their only visit, following their successful incursion to Stirling with Orfeo. They provided excellent stagings of Verdi (La traviata) and Gluck (Iphigenia in Tauris). Scottish Opera produced their first staging of Eugene Onegin, as well as revivals of two of their very best productions, The Golden Cockerel and The Turn of the Screw.

The classic production by Anthony Besch was revived by Jeremy Sutcliffe exclusively for the Edinburgh Festival and proved to be as unsettling as ever. Two of the original 1970 cast, Catherine Wilson and Milla Andrew, returned along with seasoned conductor Roderick Brydon. Company regulars George Shirley and Patricia Kern made effective appearances in new roles. The short Prologue was sung by Peter Pears in his simultaneous company debut and Festival farewell.