Benjamin's 'Lessons in Love and Violence' premieres in 2018
NEW YORK (AP) — George Benjamin's "Lessons in Love and Violence" will be given its world premiere by the Royal Opera in London in May 2018.
The company said Tuesday the opera is inspired by Elizabethan drama and portrays a king who chooses between love and political considerations, setting his wife and son against him and allowing the nation to head toward civil war. The cast includes baritone Stephane Degout, soprano Barbara Hannigan and tenor Peter Hoare. Martin Crimp is the librettist, and Katie Mitchell directs.
The work is a co-commission and is scheduled to appear at the Dutch National Opera (July 2018), Hamburg State Opera (April 2019), Opera de Lyon (May 2019), Lyric Opera of Chicago (2020/21), Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu (March 2021) and Madrid's Teatro Real (April/May 2021).
This is the third opera by Benjamin. Hannigan also starred in his well-received second opera, "Written on Skin," which premiered at France's Aix-in-Provence Festival in 2012.
