GEORGE BENJAMIN LESSONS IN LOVE AND VIOLENCE BARBARA HANNIGAN ∙ STÉPHANE DEGOUT GYULA ORENDT ∙ PETER HOARE ORCHESTRA OF THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE CONDUCTED BY GEORGE BENJAMIN

STAGED BY KATIE MITCHELL “Charged with music of exquisite beauty and a potent narrative, GEORGE BENJAMIN it is immaculately staged and performed!” – The Telegraph –

LESSONS IN LOVE Lessons in Love and Violence, the new opera by composer George Ben- jamin and playwright Martin Crimp, two of Britain’s most celebrated AND VIOLENCE artists, received a glowing reception from audiences and critics alike on its world premiere at the Royal Opera House in London. Its creative Conductor George Benjamin team includes stage director Katie Mitchell and designer Vicki Mortim- Orchestra Orchestra of the er. Both also worked on Written on Skin, the 2012 work by Benjamin Royal Opera House and Crimp, which has since become the most performed new opera of Stage Director Katie Mitchell the 21st century. In a modern day setting Lessons in Love and Violence tells the powerful and thrilling story of King Edward II, whose romantic King Stéphane Degout relationship with the Earl of Cornwall, Piers Gaveston, tears his country Isabel Barbara Hannigan and his family apart. The set of this “beautifully detailed production” (The Gaveston / Stranger Gyula Orendt Guardian) is an elegant bedroom, viewed from different sides in each Mortimer Peter Hoare scene, with a Francis Bacon-like portrait on one wall, and a fully stocked Boy / Young King Samuel Boden and stunningly lit marine aquarium on another. Witness 1 / Singer 1 / Woman 1 Jennifer France Barbara Hannigan, as “outstanding as ever” (The Financial Times) in Witness 2 / Singer 2 / Woman 2 Krisztina Szabó her role as the King’s wife Isabel, leads the hand-picked cast that in- Witness 3 / Madman Andri Björn Róbertsson cludes Stéphane Degout, who delivers a finely detailed performance as Girl Ocean Barrington-Cook the King, and Gyula Orendt. His performance as Gaveston “is striking: sinuous, forceful, finding all the soulfulness of Benjamin’s jazz-inflect- Video Director Margaret Williams ed notes.” (Time Out London) Peter Hoare plays the henchman Mor- timer with a fearsome authority and Samuel Boden and Ocean Bar- Length: 100' rington-Cook impress as the King’s children. Martin Crimp’s enigmatic Shot in HDTV 1080/50i libretto captivates with its timeless language. Benjamin’s delicate, fore- Cat. no. A 020 50124 boding score, performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House with an enthralling stereo effect, is “flawless” in its pacing and balance, A production of Royal Opera House, “charged with music of exquisite beauty” (The Telegraph). “Constantly BBC, François Roussillon et Associés, arte concert and medici.tv beguiling the ear and teasing the imagination” (Evening Standard), it is in cooperation with UNITEL conducted by the composer in “an outstanding performance.” (The Stage) “George Benjamin and Martin Crimp have done it again!” (The New York Times) All rights reserved · credits not contractual · Different territories · Photos: © Stephen Cummiskey/ROH · Flyer: mmessner.de Flyer: · Cummiskey/ROH contractual Stephen Different Photos: © territories · credits not rights · All reserved ·

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