Written on Skin
Written on Skin is an opera by the British composer George Benjamin.
Benjamin's first full-length opera, it was premiered at the 2012 Aix-en-Provence Festival as a commission from five opera centres,[1] and received its British premiere at the Royal Opera House in London in March 2013 and its Paris premiere at the Opéra-Comique in November that year; Benjamin conducted for all of these premiere seasons.
The libretto by Martin Crimp, who also wrote the libretto for Benjamin's first opera Into The Little Hill, is based on legend of the troubadour Guillaume de Cabestanh;[2] the story is also repeated in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. The action takes place in 13th-century Provence.
The opera is divided into 15 scenes. The Protector (a rich land-owner) pays the Boy (an artist) to create and illustrate a manuscript about his family. The Boy and the Protector's wife Agnès are attracted to each other. Incensed by the reawakened independence of his wife, the Protector murders the Boy and forces Agnès unwittingly to eat the heart of the Boy. Agnès commits suicide. 'Angels' comment throughout on the action from a modern-day perspective.[3]
One reviewer described the music as "glistening, mysterious sounds" from the orchestra (which includes a viola da gamba) in "Benjamin's most vivid music to date, in a score embracing everything from sensuousness to explosive ferocity".[1]
The success of the opera in performance has motivated the Royal Opera to commission a new full-length opera by Crimp and Benjamin, to be premiered in 2018. The title is not yet known.[4]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast,[3] Aix-en-Provence 7 July 2012 (Conductor: George Benjamin) |
English premiere cast,[5] Royal Opera House 16 March 2013 (Conductor: George Benjamin) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agnès | soprano | Barbara Hannigan | Barbara Hannigan |
| Protector | bass-baritone | Christopher Purves | Christopher Purves |
| First Angel/Boy | countertenor | Bejun Mehta | Bejun Mehta |
| Second Angel/Marie | mezzo-soprano | Rebecca Jo Loeb | Victoria Simmonds |
| Third Angel/John | tenor | Allan Clayton | Allan Clayton |
| Angels, Archivists |
References
Notes
- 1 2 John Allison. Review of operas performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Opera, September 2012, Volume 63 No 9, p1087-88.
- ↑ Royal Opera House website, Written on Skin, accessed 16 March 2013
- 1 2 Written on Skin, review by Andrew Clements in The Guardian, 8 July 2012, accessed 16 March 2013
- ↑ Royal Opera House website, "The Royal Opera commissions new work from George Benjamin and Martin Crimp", 14 June 2013 (accessed 14 June 2013).
- ↑ Royal Opera House website, cast list, accessed 16 March 2013
Other sources
- Alex Ross, "Illuminated: George Benjamin's long-awaited masterpiece", The New Yorker, 25 March 2013
- Andrew Powell, "Written on Skin, at Length", Musical America, 24 August 2013.