Annual reports
Scottish Opera is pleased to release its 2023/24 Annual Report – Opera for everyone in Scotland – in the following formats:
- View/download full PDF (3.85MB) – this is recommended particularly if you use a screen reader
- View on FlipHTML5 – also embedded below:
The Year in Numbers
500,000 views of the BBC’s broadcast of our 2021/22 production of The Gondoliers
93,295 people saw a live performance or participated in outreach
6,292 people saw Pop-up Opera at one of 63 performances
6,092 people saw Opera Highlights in 35 venues the length and breadth of Scotland
3,876 people participated in Breath Cycle II, helping those living with Long COVID, with 2,532 additional people accessing online resources
3 premieres – the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Marx in London!, Scottish premiere of Richard
Strauss’ Daphne, and world premiere of Toby Hession’s In Flagrante
2 new productions – of Carmen and Marx in London! – were created, along with a revival of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in a vibrant English translation
In the Press
★★★★★
– The Inverness Courier on Carmen
★★★★★
– West End Best Friend on Carmen
★★★★
– The Telegraph on Carmen
★★★★
– The Stage on Carmen
★★★★
– Bachtrack on Carmen
★★★★
– The List on Carmen
★★★★
– ScotsGay Arts on Carmen
‘Fulljames’ reinvention is alert, inventive and wholly invested in its premise’
– The Spectator on Carmen
★★★★★
– The Herald on The Barber of Seville
★★★★★
– Arts Review Edinburgh on The Barber of Seville
★★★★ ‘goes all out for belly laughs’
– The Scotsman on The Barber of Seville
★★★★
– Bachtrack on The Barber of Seville
★★★★
– ScotsGay Arts on The Barber of Seville
★★★★
– North West End on The Barber of Seville
‘spectacularly good fun, executed with perfect pace and theatrical dexterity’
– The National on The Barber of Seville
‘literally laugh-a-minute’
– VoxCarnyx on The Barber of Seville
‘a superb production, all artistic elements converging to deliver comic opera at its very best’
– Edinburgh Music Review on The Barber of Seville
★★★★★ ‘a spectacular success’
– The Herald on Opera Highlights
★★★★ ‘Delightful, uplifting, and ambitious, this is an operatic tour to please all comers’
– The QR on Opera Highlights
‘Superb and unbeatable… Highly recommended’
– Edinburgh Music Review on Opera Highlights
★★★★
– ScotsGay Arts on Hansel & Gretel
‘A Christmas treat’
– The Operatic Critic on Hansel & Gretel
‘a magical show’
– Paisley Daily Express on Hansel & Gretel
★★★★★ ‘Who’d have thought an opera depicting a day in the life of Karl Marx could be so much fun?’
– The Scotsman on Marx in London!
★★★★★
– West End Best Friend on Marx in London!
★★★★★ ‘The Orchestra of Scottish Opera under David Parry accompany a truly first-class cast with real panache’
– The QR on Marx in London!
★★★★
– The Times on Marx in London!
★★★★
– The Observer on Marx in London!
★★★★
– The Guardian on Marx in London!
★★★★
– The Arts Desk on Marx in London!
★★★★
– Opera Now on Marx in London!
★★★★ ‘A sparklingly energetic production… with pinpoint sharp attention to detail’
– Bachtrack on Marx in London!
★★★★
– Arts Review Edinburgh on Marx in London!
★★★★
– Broadway Baby on Marx in London!
‘a visually rich production… placing Marx’s tribulations in a clearly understood context’
– The Operatic Critic on Marx in London!
‘Scottish Opera’s UK premiere makes audiences want to paint the town Red’
– Corr Blimey on Marx in London!
★★★★ ‘Both works were well acted and sung, and the young talent on display augurs well for the future of opera in Scotland’
– ScotsGayArts on Maud and Down in the Valley
‘…the ensemble singing was as impressive as the range of solo voices’
– VoxCarnyx on Maud and Down in the Valley
‘the future of Scottish Opera remains bright and brilliant’
– Scots Way Hae! on Maud and Down in the Valley
★★★★★
– The Times on Daphne
★★★★ ‘exquisitely constructed, marvelously performed’
– The Telegraph on Daphne
★★★★ ‘a generally thrilling cast, and a Scottish Opera Orchestra playing a blinder under music director Stuart Stratford’
– The Scotsman on Daphne
★★★★
– The Guardian on Daphne
‘a major success for Scottish Opera’
– Seen and Heard International on Daphne
★★★★
– ScotsGay Arts on The French Collection
Gallery
Alok Kumar as Don José in Carmen. Scottish Opera 2023. Credit James Glossop.
The cast of The Barber Of Seville. Scottish Opera 2023. Credit James Glossop.
Catriona Hewitson as Gretel in Hansel & Gretel. Scottish Opera 2023. Credit Sally Jubb.
Eilidh Gillespie, Section Principal Flute, The Orchestra Of Scottish Opera in Daphne. Scottish Opera 2023. Credit Sally Jubb.
Shengzhi Ren, Inna Husieva, Lea Shaw and Ross Cumming in Opera Highlights Spring Tour. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Sally Jubb.
Alasdair Elliott as Friedrich Engels and Roland Wood as Karl Marx in Marx In London!. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit James Glossop.
Imogen Bews (Wise Woman) in Maud. Scottish Opera 2023. Credit Sally Jubb.