Scottish Opera - Turandot

Scottish Opera bring Puccini's Turandot to the Festival Theatre on 11, 14, 17, 19 and 22 November, as part of their 2026/27 season. It's a big moment for the company: they're marking their centenary year, and this is the first fully staged production in the UK to use Franco Alfano's original completion of the score. It's a new co-production with Irish National Opera, and it's one of five new productions Scottish Opera is bringing to the Festival Theatre this season.

Sir David McVicar directs, reuniting with the creative team behind the company's award-winning 2023 Il trittico. He's leaning into the darker side of the story, neither flinching from Turandot's trauma nor excusing Prince Calaf's recklessness, and framing it as a tale of two lost souls trapped between fear and desire. The production is sung in Italian with English supertitles and runs about two hours and 50 minutes across two intervals.

Stuart Stratford conducts, and the cast is led by Trine Bastrup Møller as Turandot, Victor Starsky as Calaf, and Hye-Youn Lee as Liu. Insung Sim plays Timur, Jamie MacDougall is Emperor Altoum, and the trio of Ping, Pang and Pong are played by Josef Jeongmeen Ahn, Aled Hall and Luvo Maranti, with Daniel Barrett as the Mandarin. Set and costume designs are by Charles Edwards and Doey Lüthi, and lighting is by Ben Pickersgill. The production is supported by the company's Play a Supporting Role appeal and the Dunard Fund.

There are five performances in total: 11, 14, 17 and 19 November all start at 7.15pm, and 22 November is a 3pm matinee. Tickets are £15 in advance for under 26s, full-time students and the unwaged, with valid ID required.