My Light Shines On: The Telephone By Gian Carlo Menotti | Scottish Opera

24th August 2020

The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois, is an opera in a single act, written for two singers and a hand-picked chamber ensemble. Menotti's 1947 work, last performed at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1984 by Washington Opera, brings together piquant humour with sly nods to the classics of grand opera.

Multi-award-winning soprano Soraya Mafi and celebrated baritone Jonathan McGovern make their Edinburgh International Festival debuts as Lucy and Ben - the hapless couple whose love affair is repeatedly thwarted by a telephone. Pioneering young director Daisy Evans relocates Menotti's mismatched lovers into today’s Edinburgh, as the story unfolds in and around the King’s Theatre. The opera becomes a witty commentary on our obsession with our mobile phones, reminding us to be present in the moments that matter.

International Festival audiences are given the rare opportunity to hear this charming work performed by The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, conducted by Stuart Stratford, who has been the company’s Music Director since 2015. His expansive portfolio of acclaimed performances includes the European premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves at the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival.

As a part of My Light Shines On, the Edinburgh International Festival has commissioned some of Scotland’s major national artistic companies to create extraordinary works that audiences can enjoy from their own homes. In a tribute to the enduring spirit of our Festival City, they bring light and life to sites that must stay empty this year. These unique performances for film reflect on what it means to keep a hopeful light burning in dark times.