By Cara Sulieman
BEST-SELLING crime author Ian Rankin reduced a woman to tears with his first ever operatic masterpiece.
The Rebus novelist penned part of opera 5:15 with music heavyweight Craig Armstrong – who has produced film scripts for Baz Luhrmann before.
And with opening and closing bloodbath scenes, the show was not a million miles away from the murky murders Rankin is used to.
But as he sat down to enjoy the opening night of the performance in Glasgow’s trendy Oran Mor, one female viewer was so moved that she burst into tears.
He said: “It was weird to sit in the audience and watch the performers give flesh and form to my words. The woman next to me even cried at one point.”
The Fife-born writer teamed up with Armstrong for the project – a series of five fifteen-minute operas made by collaborations between Scottish authors and composers who are all new to opera.
The duo were given a chamber orchestra, eight singers and fifteen minutes on stage for their masterpiece.
And they chose to tell a story full of murder, jealousy and adultery – not far off from the crime-fuelled novels Rankin usually pens.
But their main character Gesualdo, repenting for committing murder, spends the rest of days writing beautiful music – until his new wife kills him.
Despite the heart wrenching script, Rankin admitted not everybody was so emotional.
He said: “A week later I saw the show again in Edinburgh. I didn’t see anybody cry, but that’s Edinburghers for you.”
