World Premiere: Pushkin – The Opera

World Premiere: Pushkin – The Opera

Staged World Premiere given by Moscow’s Novaya Opera

At Grange Park Opera, Surrey: 11-12 July 2018

Grange Park Opera’s glorious Theatre in the Woods, the first new opera house of the 21st century, opened to acclaim last summer. More than 14,000 visitors enjoyed the convivial festival atmosphere in the new, five-tiered theatre within the demi-Eden of West Horsley Place. The 2018 season promises to raise the bar even higher. The glittering programme will include the staged world premiere of Pushkin – the opera with music by Konstantin Boyarsky and a libretto by Marita Phillips.

The opera explores the corrosive acrimony between Pushkin and Tsar Nicholas I, as well as the poet’s role as a lightning rod for dissent against the old order. Marita Phillips has a unique connection to her subject as the direct descendent of the scandalous union between the grandchildren of the Pushkin and Tsar Nicholas I – Phillips’ great-great-great grandparents. Written over 15 years the opera became a personal odyssey for Phillips, bringing her closer to Pushkin: ‘It’s a way to discover him . . . the journey of this libretto has been a rich experience for me with many twists and turns, finally emerging as this opera, given life by the music of Konstantin Boyarsky’.

Pushkin – the opera will be performed (in English) by The Novaya Opera Company (soloists, orchestra and chorus) with conductor Jan Latham-Koenig on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 July 2018.