Stuart Stratford was appointed the fifth music director of Scottish Opera in June 2015. He plans to revitalize the company and showcase Scottish talent. Stratford wants to put more "Scottish spirit" back into Scottish Opera while being sensitive to the country's diversity. His first initiatives include a new Sunday concert series featuring Scottish bass-baritone Iain Paterson and opera performances in Glasgow's Theatre Royal using a new acoustic shell. Stratford hopes to increase performances while keeping costs down, and bring opera to new audiences through community performances in unusual spaces across Scotland.

1. 38 Opera Now FEBRUARY 2016 www.operanow.co.uk
MAIN STAGE | UK Focus
Having been without a music
director for two years, Scottish
Opera has trodden along what
has, in some quarters, been criticised as a
safe but dull path. There have been some
excellent productions, certainly; but for a
national opera company (and recipient of
the largest subsidy of any Scottish cultural
organisation), the whole enterprise seems
to lack a real identity.
Scottish Opera’s general director Alex
Reedijk has kept the company solvent,
albeit at the cost of losing both a full-
time orchestra and chorus; but at least
the succession of very public crises – and
the resulting government bailouts – that
characterised the reign of his predecessor
have been avoided.
However, it is nearly 10 years since the
outstanding Five:15 – Operas Made in Scotland
project generated enormous excitement and
a strong belief that Scotland had world-
class, innovative, homegrown talent. So it’s
refreshing that Stratford is clearly relishing his
first music director role and is determined to
put some Scottish spirit back into Scottish
Opera, while showing his sensitivity to the
demographic and geographic diversity of his
adopted country.
an honorary scot
Following his
appointment in June
last year as only the
fifth music director in
Scottish Opera’s history,
Stuart Stratford talks
to Opera Now’s Neil
Jones about his plans to
revitalise the company
and its unique cultural
heritage
 Stuart Stratford: ‘It’s important to showcase the
rich vein of Scottish talent that we have’
JAMESGLOSSOP
ON0216_038-039_UKFocus_SO_1801OM.indd 38 20/01/2016 10:25

2. Opera Now FEBRUARY 2016 39www.operanow. co. uk
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The first manifestation of Stratford’s
influence is a new Sunday Series of
concerts, starting in February with the
Scottish bass-baritone Iain Paterson, one of
the great Wotans of our time.‘It’s fantastic
we’re doing an all-Wagner concert with
him. Brilliant!’ says Stratford.‘It’s important
to showcase the rich vein of Scottish talent
that we have.’
All this flag-flying for Scotland
may sound strange coming
from an Englishman, but then
Stratford’s mother was bombed out of
Clydebank during the Second World War
and his grandfather was conductor of the
Edinburgh Police Band. It shouldn’t be too
surprising, therefore, that Stratford feels at
home north of the border.
The Sunday Series is being performed
at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal using a new
acoustic shell built in the company’s own
workshop.‘In the year to come, there will
be operas in concert at the Theatre Royal
in the new shell. This will give more
opportunities to perform a wider range of
repertoire for our audiences to explore. It’s
quite easy to organise while we’re getting
down to the longer process of planning
our fully staged opera seasons. You’ll see
my influence on those in a couple of
years’ time.’
The extra work for the orchestra doesn’t,
however, mean that Scottish Opera will
go back to having a full-time ensemble.
Stratford is nevertheless keen to point out
that it’s not a freelance orchestra. ‘It’s an
orchestra that works for 28 weeks per year,
so it’s still a permanent ensemble within
the company.’ And he’s impressed by their
quality: ‘From my recent involvement
in Janácˇek’s Jenuºfa, they were fantastic –
they were white hot. Just because they’re
part-time doesn’t mean they have
part-time standards. It’s not on the cards
to return to a full-time orchestra any time
soon but, finances allowing, we’ll do as
much work as possible, which will increase
the orchestra’s weeks as the number of
performances grows.’
It’s that trade-off between money and
artistic ambition that Stratford admits is
the biggest challenge of his new job:‘Every
artistic decision has a financial repercussion;
there’s a limit to what you can do, so all
the time I’m juggling.’ Are we still stuck
on that ‘safe but dull’ path then? Not likely,
if Stratford has his way. Coming soon,
although planned before his appointment,
is the world premiere of The Devil Inside.
‘Gosh, it’s tricky music!’ he admits. ‘But
nothing speaks louder of a Scottish heritage
than an opera by Stuart McCrae, a Scottish
composer, Louise Walsh, a fantastic Scottish
novelist, and based on a Robert Louise
Stevenson short story.The composer/writer
partnership was created out of the Five:15
series. It’s the logical conclusion of investing
in that. It’s the payoff you’re seeing now.’
Stratford goes on to reveal that another
a new commission is being planned from
an emerging Scottish composer for the
2016/17 Scottish Opera season. Paired
with Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, the short
opera will be by Liam Paterson and is a co-
production with a leading Scottish theatre
company. ‘That’s something I’m proud of
being involved with.’
The idea of opera not being restricted
to the opera house also excites Stratford.
‘I’m passionate and determined to do
this. So you will see opera outside of the
Theatre Royal with large-scale community
involvement, with the orchestra of Scottish
Opera and a core of our professional chorus
joined by members of the public acting,
singing and dancing in unusual spaces.
‘I think it’s important not to expect
people to come to the theatre, but to take
the challenge of opera out into the world.
If it’s done well it allows us the audience to
experience a completely different dynamic.
You’re three metres away from a soprano
singing a top C, it’s absolutely thrilling and
you get jostled by actors wearing police riot
gear.It’s a total experience.It’s not opera-lite;
it’s the real thing!’
Stratford remains tight-lipped about
future repertoire, but hints that the
three years (1995-98) he spent at the
St Petersburg State Conservatoire studying
conducting with Ilya Musin was a watershed
in his life (not least because that’s where he
met his wife!):‘Of course the whole Russian
repertoire runs in my veins; it’s well worth
reminding ourselves of how fantastic it is.’
He’s also a huge fan of verismo,and Mascagni
in particular. ‘I think he’s very underrated.
People know him for Cavalleria rusticana,
but he wrote many other sensational pieces.
Guglielmo Ratcliff for example. It’s a story
set in the Highlands of Scotland about a
compulsive duelist.A phenomenal piece. So
you’ll see some Mascagni – definitely!’
The next few years could prove to be a
rather interesting ride for Scottish Opera’s
audiences, and Stratford is keen to stress his
commitment to the company and its ethos:
‘I’m at home here – it’s a sensational place.
I’m very fortunate that our remit is to go
out and make music in such an inspiring
natural landscape.’ ON
www.scottishopera.org.uk
JAMESGLOSSOP
 ‘Scottish Opera’s orchestra works for 28 weeks per year,
so it’s still a permanent ensemble within the company’
ON0216_038-039_UKFocus_SO_1801OM.indd 39 20/01/2016 14:38