Scottish Opera’s Pop-up Opera 2026
St Matthew’s Church Hall, Perth, 30/05/26
Scottish Opera’s Pop-up Opera 2026
Allan Dunn (storyteller), Holly Teague (soprano), Ross Cumming (baritone), Andrew Drummond Huggan (cello), Sasha Savaloni (guitar), Agnes Xantippa Boman, Essi Kimpimäki (illustrators)
This year’s tour of Scottish Opera’s ‘Pop-up Opera’, consisting of two half-hour selections, ‘A Little Bit of The Elixir of Love’ and ‘A Little Bit of Rigoletto’, kicked off as a Perth Festival matinee at St Matthew’s Church Hall on the afternoon of Saturday 30th May. The ingenious adaptations, with scoring reduced to cello (Andrew Drummond Huggan) and guitar (Sasha Savaloni) by former SO Head of Music Derek Clark, and vocals ‘limited’ (yet so unrestrained) to the soprano (Holly Teague) and baritone (Ross Cumming) tessiture, featured libretto and narration scripted and performed in English by Allan Dunn, who also manipulated the characterful billboard graphics which followed the narrative in place of sets, produced by illustrators Essi Kimpimäki (Elixir) and Agnes Xantippa Boman (Rigoletto). Costumes selected from the vast Scottish Opera resource were lavish yet versatile enough to accommodate quick changes of character. In a nice touch, the instrumentalists were also costumed.
Shropshire-born Holly Teague is (for this reviewer, at any rate) a newcomer to the Scottish Opera context, but I have enjoyed her lyric soprano (as part of a trio of actresses) in the role of Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh in Alberto Caruso / Colm Tóibín’s ‘Lady Gregory in America’ at the 2024 Wexford Festival Opera. Ross Cumming, on the other hand and as my regular readers will be aware, has been forging a career which it has been my pleasure and privilege to follow for EMR since 2022, through Royal Conservatoire of Scotland productions, as a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist culminating in premiering the role of Roger Penistone in Toby Hession’s ‘A Matter of Misconduct’, the role of Chamberlain in Zemlinsky’s ‘The Dwarf’ in Wexford last year and a super Escamillo in Paisley Opera’s ‘Carmen’ just a fortnight ago.
For Donizetti’s ‘Elixir of Love’, the poor ‘hero’ Nemorino is a tenor role, so some of his music was transposed for Ross’ baritone. Mostly, Ross sang the baritone roles of the recruiting sergeant Belcore (a very Escamillo-like character) and the mountebank purveyor of fake potions Dulcamara. Holly sang the role of the beautiful (and wealthy) Adina, Nemorino’s love interest, as well as a bit of her friend Giannetta (the particularly delicious ‘gossip’ aria was a hoot). Through a combination of narration, arias and duets, the story was told in a little over half an hour. The combination of Allan’s witty narration and the singers’ stylish artistry delivered an enchanting performance of pure entertainment. Sasha’s guitar carried the underlying orchestral harmony, while Andrew’s cello sang Donizetti’s glorious melodies and responded eloquently in the solo instrument / vocalist dialogue that makes the opera such a gem. ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ was beautiful on the cello, but if felt odd (notwithstanding the absence of a tenor) not to hear it sung. Particular other highlights were Adina’s aria rejecting Nemorino’s suit and advising him to play the field (as she intends to do), and the Act II barcarolle duet between Adina and Dulcamara. Super.
Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ makes a chilling contrast, with an assassin replacing the con artist, a misogynist serial womanising aristocrat replacing the swaggering sergeant, his vile bitter entourage and a bitter court culture of mockery, tasteless practical jokes and revenge replacing the rural idyll, and the love of a morally compromised father for a daughter whom he fails to protect from this ugly life replacing the innocent romantic love of a poor man. Gritty stuff. Ross had a wealth of material in the roles of the eponymous jester, the Count Ceprano whose humiliation Rigoletto mocks and whose curse he thereby incurs, and the assassin Sparafucile. Holly took the role of Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter, seduced by the lascivious Duke posing as a student, pleading with her father not to pursue his destructive thirst for revenge, and ultimately the unintended victim of that vendetta. Both delivered phenomenal performances of great emotional power and intensity. The Duke’s famous tenor aria, ‘La donna è mobile’, was a cello instrumental (1 verse only). Two years ago, at the same venue, the Pop-up Opera action had taken place on the small stage. This time, it was on the ground right up close to the audience in front of a large black screen behind which costume changes could take place. The music and drama were so much more immediate as a result. Facial expressions and characterisations were compelling and captivation. Thoroughly excellent. Full marks from me.