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Richard Ayres's Peter Pan at Welsh National Opera

May. 05, 2015

Richard Ayres's <em>Peter Pan</em> at Welsh National Opera

The Welsh National Opera mounts the first UK production and the world premiere of the new version of Richard Ayres’s Peter Pan opening May 16. The production is directed by Keith Warner, with conductor Erik Nielsen, set design by Jason Southgate, costumes by Nicky Shaw and lighting design by Bruno Poet. The cast features Iestyn Morris as Peter Pan, Marie Arnet as Wendy, Ashley Holland as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, and Hilary Summers as Mrs. Darling and Tiger Lily.

Ayres’s Peter Pan, commissioned by Opera Stuttgart and Komische Oper Berlin, premiered in 2013 at Oper Stuttgart with direction by Frank Hilbrich. Based on the children’s story by J. M. Barrie, Ayres's Peter Pan is an opera about childhood, with a rich score characteristic in its extraordinary high energy and extremes of register. Tinkerbell is played by two piccolos, a glockenspiel and an accordion; she has no lines but her emotions are impossible to misjudge. If many of the characters are impolite or even mean, portrayed through Ayres’s musical non sequiturs and sharp contrasts they seem comic, though as with others of his works there is an underlying sense of disquiet.

The Welsh National Opera production runs from May 16 -31 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, June 11 at the Birmingham Hippodrome, and July 24 and 25 at the Royal Opera House in London.

Details on the production can be found at wno.org.uk.

For more information on Richard Ayres, visit schott-music.com.

Richard Ayres
Peter Pan (No. 45) (2011-2013)
an opera in two acts
libretto (Eng) by Lavinia Greenlaw, based on the story by J. M. Barrie
German translation by Adelheid and Jürgen Dormagen
for countertenor, 2 sopranos, alto, mezzo-soprano, 4 tenors, baritone, bass, female and male/children’s choirs
2pic(fl).0.0.Ebcl.1.cbcl.1.cbsn-3.Ebtpt.1(flugelhn).1.0.cimbasso-timp.3perc-hp.acc-str
90’

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