Cunningham: The Okavango Macbeth (2 CDs)

The Macbeth story as played out in a troupe of baboons? This fanciful idea inspired writer Alexander McCall Smith, who had already collaborated with composer Tom Cunningham on the choral song cycles The Painter’s Eye and Scotland at Night (recorded on Delphian DCD34060), with the idea for this unique chamber opera, set in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. It centres on the efforts of an ambitious female baboon, Lady Macbeth, to encourage her husband to murder the dominant baboon, Duncan. The opera was premiered in Botswana, in The No 1 Ladies’ Opera House which McCall Smith helped found as a venue for the many talented local singers there, before transferring to this, the first of two Scottish productions to date.

"Vocally Lady Macbeth's is the most memorable music: Beth Mackay combines a pleasing tonal clarity with a cutting, calculating edge...Purists may sniff, but there aren't enough new operas like The Okavango Macbeth out there, with instant appeal across the generations. It's to be hoped smaller companies will seriously consider staging it. These CDs, meanwhile, will give much enjoyment." --BBC Music Magazine