Music review: Scottish Opera - The Burning Fiery Furnace, St Mary’s, Haddington

With its talk of an “invasion of immigrants” and “foreign traitors,” the troubling contemporary resonances in Britten’s church parable The Burning Fiery Furnace are hard to miss. While recounting the Old Testament tale of the three pious Israelites who survive Nebuchadnezzar’s inferno through their unshakable faith, it’s also an examination of how belief shapes identity, and how competing creeds quickly become perceived as threats – all themes to the fore in this compelling debut visit by Scottish Opera to the Lammermuir Festival, in a modern-dress staging directed by Jenny Ogilvie that found an ideal setting in St Mary’s Church, Haddington.