Bella Calladonia Article 2015

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The Descent o’ Orpheus tae the Underwarl by Ayrshire Opera is an owresettin o an auld French opera fae 1686, La descente d’Orphée aux enfers bi Marc-Antoine Charpentier, intil Scots.

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The tale taks us doon tae the underwarl o Greek mythology, whaur oor hero Orpheus gings in search o his newly deid wife Eurydice. Giftit wi sang sae saft and bonnie that nane can refuse him, Orpheus ettles tae save his pairtner fae the clutches o Pluto, high heid yin o the warld ablow wir feet. Nae spoilers, but.

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The owresettin fae French intil Scots wis the wark o Chris Waddell fae the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. This isnae Waddell’s, nor Ayrshire Opera’s furst wee bairnie steps in the warld o Scots opera. Baith hae aaready markit their nemmes in history ae year syne wi the production o Actéon meets Tam o Shanter, the furst Opera in Scots, anithir owresttin o Charpentier bi Waddell.

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The shaw’s Creative Director, as weel’s its tenor, is West coast chiel David Douglas. It wis David’s love o Scots sang that gard him big a brig atween his classical operatic scuilin an the rich Scots o his native Ayrshire, he telt us. “The Scots taks the hail wark in a new airt, gies it a new smeddum. Opera companies aa owre the yird hae owreset Operas intae their ain leid, an Ah was fair tane wi the idea o owresettin ane intae Scots.” The enterprise wis aidit bi Michael Dempster, wha gied assistance bi “relatin Scots soonds tae phonetic alphabet” fir the fowk wha didnae ken Scots.

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The opera has but a wee twa-nicht run at this year’s Fringe sae tak tent an dinnae miss this neer-afore-seen spectacle. David Douglas’ troops promise baith beautiful music an “Scots [that gies the piece] a folk-like storytellin quality.

 

Alistair Heather - Bella caledonia