Pirates, four brand-new operas, and the return of Wagner to the Scottish Opera stage for the first time in nine years mark the 50th anniversary season of Scotland's national opera company.
In a celebratory season, Scottish Opera will stage four new one-hour operas at the Edinburgh International Festival, as well as Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, the first work it will perform by the German composer since the lauded but controversial Ring Cycle came to its conclusion in 2003.
Overall, the 50th year of the company, since it was created and launched by Alexander Gibson in Glasgow in 1962, will include 11 productions, four world premieres and 133 performances.
Although it is now financially stable, Scottish Opera has spent large periods of its recent history at the centre of financial or artistic controversy, including a crisis in 2003/4 that led to a government bailout, the loss of its chorus, and the recent placing of its orchestra on a part-time basis.
However, since then the company has been judged to have benefited from its direct relationship with the Scottish Government. It will soon begin plans to revamp the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, and is in a stable financial and artistic position, according to general director Alex Reedijk.
He said: "There isn't any arts organisation in the world that hasn't had its ups and downs, but we are 50 years old, and the thing we can celebrate is that we got to 50.
"And if you did a random survey of our audience around Scotland, what they would tell you is that what they remember from those 50 years is the performances."
Highlights of the season include Mozart's The Magic Flute, directed by Sir Thomas Allen. Massenet's Werther is to be staged in Scotland for the first time since 1986 in a new production directed by Pia Furtad, and The Flying Dutchman will star the baritone Peteris Eglitis.
"It's a celebration of Wagner, but it is coming up to 10 years since we completed the Ring Cycle, so it is time we returned to Wagner, it's the right piece for us to be doing," Mr Reedijk said.
He added: "There are financial and artistic ups and downs with any performing arts company, but the fantastic thing about Scottish Opera is that its life-force has refused to ebb.
"What's terrific is that as we hit our 50th anniversary we are in robust shape, rude health. I think we are serving Alexander Gibson's vision well."
Scottish Opera will also join with The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in a new co-production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.
The four new operas at the EIF, which have grown out of the company's 15-minute opera project, include The Lady from the Sea, with music by the Scottish Hollywood composer Craig Armstrong and the libretto by author Zoë Strachan.
Clemency is written by the leading Scottish composer James MacMillan and the poet Michael Symmons Roberts; The Locked Room has been written by Huw and David Harsent; and Ghost Patrol features music by Stuart MacRae and the libretto by crime-writer Louise Welsh.
There will also be a new production of La Traviata, marking the 200th anniversary of Verdi's birth.
The celebratory year will be launched on June 5 at Glasgow's City Halls with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.
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