Four new productions, a collaboration with a leading theatre company and the first Scottish performance of a Puccini opera are part of Scottish Opera's new season.
Le Villi, by Puccini, has not been performed in Scotland before and will be part of the new season which also features new productions of
Pelléas and Mélisande, Bluebeard’s Castle, La Bohème and The Elixir of Love.
Le Villi is an opera/ballet in two acts and was first performed in Milan in 1884.
Sir Thomas Allen’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro opens the season, which will also see the world premiere of The 8th Door, a new musical piece devised by Matthew Lenton, of theatre company Vanishing Point who will also make a new production of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle.
There will also be the Scottish premiere of a new opera by Philip Glass, The Trial, based on the Franz Kafka novel.
Alex Reedijk, general director of the company, said the health of the company is "good" despite a recent 3% cut in its grant from the Scottish Government.
He said: "We took the 3% cut, but that isn't the first - perhaps the others have been below the radar - but we have built up our reserves, and certainly for the 2016/17 we think it is right to deliver a season as bold as we can.
"It's a very strong programme, there is a lot of opera on it, but unpinning that is a lot of canny co-presenting, co-productions, and a lot of partnerships. All of these things help us stretch our ambition."
Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, with a quintet, will tour to 17 venues around Scotland.
Reedijk added: "Over the last ten years we have got to know Matthew Lenton really well and know how important music was to the work he creates, and we got to a tipping point where we wondered whether he was ready to embrace the world of opera.
"He was incredibly ready, willing and able, and he brings all his particular perspectives to bear, and he is one of the classic artists who makes his work in Scotland but who is known for his work across the world - in Spain, Japan, Korea and China.
"It seemed a really interesting opportunity to bring us together."
The season is the first since Stuart Stratford took up the post of Music Director.
He said that Pelleas and Melisande was the first production staged for Scottish Opera by the founder of the company, Alexander Gibson, in 1962
On the collaboration with Vanishing Point and Matthew Lenton, he said: "He is a fantastic theatre maker, we have got him on board as a co-collaborator and we are very excited about that.
"The 8th Door is in many ways a prequel to Bluebeard's Castle - it is being written as we speak. It will have eight voices."
He added: "I am delighted as Music Director to present opera to audiences all over Scotland.
"I have been very involved in the casting of the programme, and there are some incredible talents - from Scotland as well as around the world - taking to the stage.
"The Sunday Series programme promises to open audiences up to lesser known works by composers including Debussy and Rossini, and we believe our performance of Puccini’s Le Villi will be a Scottish premiere.
"I’m excited to also have the opportunity to travel Scotland conducting The Elixir of Love, taking the company’s passion for music to all corners of the country."
Sir David McVicar will direct the new production of Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande.
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