Sir George Benjamin long held the desire to write an opera but the right project never quite presented itself, until the advent of Into the Little Hill, which resulted from his meeting with playwright Martin Crimp. The London Sinfonietta gave the UK premiere performances of the acclaimed work in partnership with The Opera Group, and have since made a recording of the work conducted by the composer on Nimbus Records. .
In one stroke, Mr. Benjamin is claiming a place amid the rich experimental operatic works of British composers like Harrison Birtwistle and Judith Weir. The New York Times on Into the Little Hilll
Listen to Into the Little Hill
It is a transcendentally beautiful piece, perfectly scaled to Martin Crimp's taut libretto, which updates the Pied Piper story. The Guardian
Production breakdown
Description:
Duration: 43'
Genre: Opera
Orchestration: 1/picc/bass.0.2basset hn in F+contrabass.0 0.2cornets.1.0 1.1/mandolin.1+1/banjo.2.1 1cimbalom/percussion + soprano + mezzo soprano = 15 players + two voices + conductor
Artists: George Benjamin – conductor / Susan Bickley – soprano / Claire Booth - mezzo soprano / John Fulljames – director
Publisher: Faber Music
Language: English
Commission: Commissioned by the Festival d'Automne à Paris, with contributions from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation; Opéra National de Paris; and Ensemble Modern, with contributions from the Forberg-Schneider Foundation
First Performance: 22.11.2006, Festival d'Automne, Opéra Bastille, Opéra Nationale de Paris, Paris, France: Anu Komsi/Hilary Summers/Ensemble Modern/Franck Ollu/dir. Daniel Jeanneteau
Find out more
Please contact London Sinfonietta CEO & Artistic Director Andrew Burke for more information.
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