Today : world première of 'Anthropocene' by Stuart MacRae in Glasgow

Today, the Scottish Opera presents the world première of Anthropocene, an opera composed by Stuart MacRae, with a libretto by Louise Welsh.

It is the composer's fifth opera after The Assasin Tree (Edinburgh, 2006), Remembrance Day (Glasgow, 2009), Ghost Patrol (Edinburgh, 2012) and The Devil Inside (Glasgow, 2016).

In the frozen Arctic wastelands, an expeditionary team of scientists becomes trapped. Tensions rise and relationships crumble; and then something appears, out of the ice… (reproduced from the Scottish Opera website)

The cast includes soprano Jennifer France (Ice), soprano Jeni Bern (Professor Prentice), baritone Stephen Gadd (Charles), baritone Benedict Nelson (Miles), tenor Mark Le Brocq (Harry King) and bass baritone Paul Whelan (Captain Ross). Stuart Stratford conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Scottish Opera. Matthew Richardson directs.

The performance should last 2 hours and 20 minutes, including a 20 minutes interval.

The venue for the first performance is the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. Further performances in Edinburgh (King's Theatre) and London (Hackney Empire) until February 9.

Today : world première of 'The Devil Inside' by Stuart MacRae in Glasgow

Today, the Scottish Opera presents the world première performance of Stuart MacRae's new opera, The Devil Inside, with a libretto by Louise Welsh, inspired by Roberts Louis Stevenson's short story The Bottle Imp. The performance will take place at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow.

It is the composer's fourth opera, after The Assassin Tree (2006), Remembrance Day (2008) and Ghost Patrol (2012).

James uses the bottle to get all he's ever dreamed of. Happily married to Catherine, he feels his life is complete ... but what has seemed so perfect soon begins to spiral out of control. (reproduced from the Scottish Opera website).

The cast includes mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly (Catherine), tenor Nicholas Sharratt (Richard), baritone Ben McAteer (James) and baritone Steven Page (Old Man / Vagrant). Michael Rafferty conducts members of the Orchestra of Scottish Opera. Matthew Richardson directs.

The performance should last about 1 hours 45 minutes. The opera is a co-production with Music Theatre Wales. In the next three months, this new opera will be touring to London, Cardiff, Basingstoke, Manchester, Aberystwyth, Huddersfield, Mold, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Toronto.