Since its foundation by Sir Alexander Gibson in 1962, the Scottish Opera has had a history tinged both with success - becoming one of the most renowned opera companies in the world - and with uncertainty, culminating in serious financial worries in the earlier half of the 2000s.
The peaks of Scottish Opera's success are highlighted by a string of illustrious awards, including the Barclays TMA Award for 'Outstanding Achievement in Opera' for Macbeth and Der Rosenkavalier in 1994 and for Die Walküre and Siegfried in 2002, as well as winning the South Bank Show Award for 'Best Opera' for the 2004 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle.
However, in a dramatic twist with just a touch of the irony typical of opera, The Ring Cycle, despite being critically acclaimed and a huge success artistically, was financially draining, and meant a disruptive restructuring of the whole company, leaving the future of the Scottish Opera somewhat up in the air.
However, in November 2007 Scottish Opera sealed a deal with management and technology consultancy firm Accenture that they hope will have secured the company's future. Scottish Opera's new partners have promised to inject their management and technological expertise in order to perfect the company's operation.
Scottish Opera have since been singing the praises of this innovative new partnership by making some inventive moves of their own, including a brand new production of ever-original and always provocative Judith Weir's A Night at the Chinese Opera; and Five:15, the first stage of a four-year research and development plan to endorse new opera in Scotland, which was kicked off in Glasgow in late February 2008, and which saw some of Scottish literature's biggest names, including Alexander McCall Smith and Ian Rankin, turn their pens toward opera.
As well as being a forerunner for the development of new approaches to this musical art form, Scottish Opera is also dedicated to bringing classic operas to new light, preserving the tradition of Opera that its biggest fans will certainly appreciate. To their current programme, then, Scottish Opera have also added a new production of Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, directed by Dominic Hill.
Scottish Opera's blend of the classical & traditional with the modern & ground-breaking is reflected somewhat in Glasgow - the home of Scottish Opera -, where medieval, Victorian and modern architecture all accompany one another, and where the great parks of the South Side of the city are the perfect natural complement to the modern West End, home to bustling cafés, charming restaurants and some of the most luxurious hotels in Glasgow.
Scottish Opera is set to continue Glasgow's trend of combining old and new this Autumn with a new production of Verdi's La Traviata, directed by much sought-after musical director David McVicar, whose radical approach to opera has borne him the nickname 'l'enfant terrible' of British opera, and whose return to Scottish Opera is bound to keep people on the edge of the seats, and critics singing praises and condemnations alike!