Janáček’s feverish fable of obsessive love, desire and escape is broadcast from Glasgow's Theatre Royal in a specially-created concert performance for Lammermuir Festival 2020. 

A naive young farmer’s son falls desperately in love with a wild gypsy girl. Will he abandon his family, his community and his whole way of life to satisfy his fiery passions?

Part dramatic song cycle, part miniature opera, Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared is an unorthodox, unclassifiable work – but one that shows the composer at his most overtly sensual, in a timeless tale of illicit love and hot-headed seduction that shatter boundaries between cultures.

In this live concert performance direct from Glasgow, tenor Ed Lyon (Ariodante 2015, Don Giovanni ) is joined by mezzo-soprano Lucy Schaufer as the gypsy Zefka, as well as Catriona Hewitson, Heather Ireson (Scottish Opera Associate Artist) and Sioned Gwen Davies. Scottish Opera Music Director Stuart Stratford conducts an ensemble of 12 musicians from The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, in a rarely heard orchestral version of Janáček’s intoxicating masterpiece by Miloš Šědroň Senior and Miloš Štědroň Junior. 

All performers observe physical distancing guidelines while conveying the opera’s compelling drama.

Running time approx. 35 mins
Sung in Czech

Supported by Scottish Opera Endowment Trust & The Friends of Scottish Opera