| Sir George Benjamin | Direction | |
| Mahler Chamber Orchestra | ||
| Barbara Hannigan | Soprano | Agnès |
| Victoria Simmonds | Mezzo-soprano | Marie / Angel 2 |
| Robert Murray | Ténor | John / Angel 3 |
| Christopher Purves | Basse | The Protector |
| Tim Mead | Contre-ténor | Boy / Angel 1 |
Le Monde called it the best opera since Wozzeck. This performance of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin is quite simply essential listening.
A husband, a wife, an artist, and a passion with consequences beyond imagination. ‘This is the best opera written for twenty years’ declared Le Monde, and this concert version, re-uniting performers from the Royal Opera’s sensational 2013 production, is an unmissable climax to our George Benjamin Focus.
'Possibly the most talked-about new opera of the decade,Written On Skin is fast becoming a contemporary classic. In this concert staging, the composer conducts and Barbara Hannigan and Christopher Purves reprise the roles they premiered in 2012; prompting Richard Morrison of The Times to write that ‘George Benjamin has written nothing better than this dark, erotic, violent and troubling opera — and that’s saying something’. The opera was specifically written for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with their distinctive sound in mind, and this performance will allow the subtleties of the work’s exquisite scoring to be fully revealed in the concert hall.
