English Touring Opera 2010
Promised End & The Duenna

Few operas can be said to have created theatrical history - yet this is true of The Duenna, the only opera of playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and one of two Sheridan offerings this season in Malvern. For 75 years it was the nation’s favourite opera, praised by both Lord Byron and Dr. Johnson, this exuberant comedy had its origins in a society scandal. Sheridan had eloped with the daughter of composer, Thomas Linley. Just months later, Sheridan was writing an opera about a society elopement in The Duenna. Thomas Linley himself was commissioned to write the arias oneby-one, unaware of the play’s subject. For this unique revival, ETO has assembled a strong cast, who will be accompanied by a period orchestra.

English Touring Opera will also present a new opera by leading British composer, Alexander Goehr, setting fragments of Shakespeare’s great tragedy King Lear, selected by scholar Sir Frank Kermode and the composer. Promised End is an intriguing drama, influenced by a range of world theatre and dance. In 24 short scenes, the original’s themes are distilled and re-ordered to present one of the most powerful, proclamatory presentations of the play yet.