2017-2018 Royal Opera Season Premieres George Benjamin’s Third Opera

Summary: The 2017-2018 Royal Opera season includes the world premiere of George Benjamin’s third opera, Lessons in Love and Violence.

The Royal Opera House hosts the world premiere of George Benjamin's third opera, Lessons in Love and Violence, May 10, 2018: Musical America @MusicalAmerica, via Twitter Feb. 2, 2017

The 2017-2018 Royal Opera season features the world premiere of George Benjamin’s third opera, Lessons in Love and Violence, in May 2018.

The Royal Opera House’s world premiere of Lessons in Love and Violence by English conductor and classical music composer George William John Benjamin occurs as a co-production with six opera houses in five countries. The premiere’s six other co-producers are De Nationale Opera (Dutch National Opera), Amsterdam, Netherlands; Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg State Opera), northern Germany; Opéra National de Lyon, east central France; Lyric Opera of Chicago, northeastern Illinois, midwestern United States; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Catalonia, northeastern Spain; and Teatro Real, Madrid, central Spain.

The world premiere of George Benjamin’s opera themed on a king’s forced choice between love and political expediency plays for six performances. The opera’s composer conducts all performances at The Royal Opera House.

The world premiere’s opening night is Thursday, May 10, 2018. Closing night is Saturday, May 26.

Lessons in Love and Violence represents the third operatic collaboration between composer George Benjamin and playwright Martin Andrew Crimp. The duo’s partnership yielded Benjamin’s first opera, Into the Little Hill (2008), and his second opera, Written on Skin (2012).

Online database Operabase places George Benjamin at number 114 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Written on Skin places at 234 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The production’s director is Katie Mitchell. The English director also directed The Royal Opera House’s premiere of Benjamin’s second opera in 2013. Katie Michell made her Royal Opera House debut in 2009 in James MacMillan’s Parthenogenesis.

The production team comprises Vicki Mortimer as designer, James Farncombe as lighting designer and Joseph Alford as movement director. Vicki Mortimer’s Royal Opera House debut occurred in 2013 on the production team for Written on Skin. James Farncombe debuted in The Royal Opera House’s December 2013 production of Julian Philips’ How the Whale Became by Julian Philips. Joseph Alford’s Royal Opera House debut occurred in 2011 on the production team for James MacMillan’s Clemency.

Lessons in Love and Violence brings together an international cast. Of the opera’s eight singers, three are making their Royal Opera debuts.

Samuel Boden debuted at The Royal Opera in 2014 in the title role in L’Ormindo by Italian baroque composer Francesco Cavalli (Feb. 14, 1602-Jan. 14, 1676).

French baritone Stéphane Degout debuted at The Royal Opera House in 2007 as Dandini in La Cenerentola by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

British tenor British soprano Jennifer France’s appearance in Lessons in Love and Violence marks her Royal Opera debut.

Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan debuted as Agnès in The Royal Opera's 2003 production of Benjamin's second opera, Written on Skin.

English tenor Peter Hoare debuted as Spoletta in the Royal Opera’s 2001 production of Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Hungarian-Romanian baritone Gyula Orendt’s Royal Opera debut occurred in 2012 as the Gamekeeper in Rusalka by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904).

Icelandic bass-baritone Andri Björn Róbertsson makes his Royal Opera debut in Lessons in Love and Violence.

Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó also makes her Royal Opera debut in the production.

George Benjamin's much anticipated third opera is sung in English. The performance is timed to last 1 hour 40 minutes. There is no intermission, termed "interval" in the United Kingdom.

The world premiere of George Benjamin’s third opera during the 2017-2018 Royal Opera season attests to the vibrancy of opera as a dynamic art form in the 21st century.

Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence and Donizetti's L'Ange de Nisida receive world premieres at the Royal Opera House during the 2017-2018 season: Musical America @MusicalAmerica, via Twitter April 7, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Royal Opera House hosts the world premiere of George Benjamin's third opera, Lessons in Love and Violence, May 10, 2018: Musical America @MusicalAmerica, via Twitter Feb. 2, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MusicalAmerica/status/827215079624044544

Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence and Donizetti's L'Ange de Nisida receive world premieres at the Royal Opera House during the 2017-2018 season: Musical America @MusicalAmerica, via Twitter April 7, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MusicalAmerica/status/850350778485178374

For further information:

“Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16.” Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“How the Whale Became.” Royal Opera House > Opera & Music Autumn 2013. June 2013.
Available @ http://static.roh.org.uk/for/pdfs/OperaMusicAutumnSeason-13-14.pdf

Musical America @MusicalAmerica. “George Benjamin’s New Opera to Bow in London in Spring, 2018.” Twitter. Feb. 2, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MusicalAmerica/status/827215079624044544

Musical America @MusicalAmerica. “@RoyalOperaHouse in 2017-18: Four World Premieres Including George Benjamin's Newest #MusicalAmericaNews.” Twitter. April 7, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MusicalAmerica/status/850350778485178374

Royal Opera House. “Royal Opera House 2017/18 Season Trailer.” YouTube. April 5, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNXuUdDn8xI

Schweitzer, Vivien. “A Minimalist Pied Piper (Imagine, Please, Those Rats).” The New York Times > Arts > Music. July 25, 2007.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/arts/music/25benj.html

Spencer, Mel. “New Opera by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp Announced.” Royal Opera House > News. Jan. 31, 2017.
Available @ http://www.roh.org.uk/news/new-opera-by-george-benjamin-and-martin-crimp-announced

Spencer, Mel. “Royal Opera House 2017/18 Season Announced.” Royal Opera House > News. April 5, 2017.
Available @ http://www.roh.org.uk/news/royal-opera-house-2017-2018-season-announced

Tilden, Imogen. “Royal Opera to Premiere New Work by George Benjamin.” The Guardian > Arts > Classical > Opera. Jan. 31, 2017.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/31/royal-opera-house-premiere-george-benjamin-martin-crimp