The Makropulos Affair by Janáček, Wed 19 Feb 2025, From (2025/2025), Directed by Olivia Fuchs,, Conductor Martyn Brabbins, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Hailed as an ‘unmissable triumph’ (The Telegraph) and nominated for a 2022 Southbank Sky Arts Award, this co-production of Janáček’s mature masterpiece returns to Scottish Opera in its first full staging since 1993. Emilia Marty is a stylish, enigmatic diva with a secret. For over three centuries, she has lived many lives, in a quest to become a great opera singer. Emilia - also known as Enila Makropulos, or simply E.M. - captivates minds and hearts along her journey through time and across Europe. Her existence raises questions of science and nature, reality and fantasy, and life and death. But as the elixir she was given begins to lose its power, the secrets of her lives and loves begin to come to light. She can no longer escape from these essential human tensions. Olivia Fuchs’ ‘emotionally driven direction’ (The Telegraph) is supported by Nicola Turner’s multi-layered, poetic designs. Sung in English, Orla Boylan (Marx in London! 2024) leads as Emilia Marty, with Brad Cooper (Daphne 2023) as Albert Gregor. Joining them are Henry Waddington (Greek 2018) as Doctor Kolenatý, and Mark Le Brocq (Nixon in China 2020) as Vitek. The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, conducted Martyn Brabbins, brings out every dramatic nuance.