4 June 2012Last updated at 10:02

In pictures: Scottish Opera celebrates its 50th anniversary

Scottish Opera is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week. It was founded in 1962 by Sir Alexander Gibson (above). The current General Director Alex Reedijk says the company 'has been dedicated to bringing imaginative opera productions to the very doorsteps of the people of Scotland'

Madama Butterfly at the King's Theatre in Glasgow was Scottish Opera's first-ever production. This picture shows a revival of the opera in 1965.

One of the longest operas still commonly performed: Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (1976)

Dame Janet Baker sang Mozart, Strauss and Gluck for Scottish Opera. In 1978, she performed in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

Rimsky-Korsakov completed The Golden Cockerel in 1907. It was premiered in Moscow in 1909. This is a performance by Scottish Opera in 1979

Tosca: Anthony Besch's celebrated production was first staged in 1980 and has been revived eight times by the company and performed internationally.

Candide in 1988 won two Olivier Awards for its Old Vic run. Composer Leonard Bernstein spent time in Glasgow crafting this production with Scottish Opera's creative team

Opera Go Round in 1985 took Carmen on the road, touring towns and villages across Scotland and providing workshops across communities.

Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amour (1994). L'Elisir d'Amour remains one of the most-performed operas internationally

Der Ring Gotterdammerung. It was winner of Best Opera at the South Bank Show Awards in 2003. In the same year, the Scotsman said: "Praise is ringing from the rooftops of Edinburgh. The Ring Cycle is the triumph of the Festival."

Lisa Milne took the title role in Handel's Semele (2005). Born in Aberdeen, she studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Bizet's Carmen (2006). Although Carmen works in a tobacco factory, Scotland's anti-smoking laws banned cigarettes on stage.

The Legend of Slim McBride (2006). Slim McBride in an action-packed tale for primary schools, featuring the wonderful and exotic people, plants, birds and animals of the South American rainforests

Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (2006). First performed in 1911, the Scottish Opera production featured Lucy Crowe as Sophie (centre) and Sarah Conolly as Octavian

Scottish Opera Five:15 (2009). Five:15 worked with writers and composers who might never have tackled opera before, but who were "brave enough to step up to the challenge".

The Marriage of Figaro (2010). Kate Valentine and Nadine Livingston in Sir Thomas Allen's production of Mozart's comic opera

The Cunning Little Vixen staged in 2011 was part of an annual collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

The Rake's Progress (2012) directed by David McVicar and designed by John Mcfarlane

Scottish Opera has a commitment to education and outreach. BabyO, the ground-breaking opera for 6-18 month old babies will be joined in 2012 by SensoryO, an interactive show for toddlers of 18 months to 36 months.

Scotland

In pictures: Scottish Opera celebrates its 50th anniversary

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