1.8m pound Gaelic opera on 1930 evacuation of Outer Hebridean isles to tour Europe

They were known to sailors as"the isles at the edge of the world" but, more than 75 years after the last inhabitants were evacuated, the story of St Kilda is being taken this June to four European countries in a £1.8 million Gaelic opera.

The language may be spoken by only 1.2 per cent of the population in Scotland, but this has not stopped the producers of St Kilda: A European Opera from seeking, in local-language productions, to introduce its sounds and rhythms to audiences in France, Germany, Belgium and Austria. Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, will host an all-Gaelic version.

The opera is being funded by grants, including £600,000 from the European Commission. Critics felt that the money could have been better spent supporting the language at grassroots level.

The 82-minute opera, to start and end with a live satellite broadcast of Gaelic singing on St Kilda, will be set against a video backdrop of dancers gyrating on ropes suspended from the cliffs.

[St Kilda is located west of the Outer Hebrides. It was evacuated in 1930, bequeathed to the National Trust of Scotland in 1957, and became one of Scotland's four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2005.]

Related Links

St Kilda (National Trust of Scotland)

St Kilda (Scottish government nomination as World Heritage Site; PDF)