What Do Critics Think of Lessons in Love and Violence World Premiere? | Playbill

The Verdict What Do Critics Think of Lessons in Love and Violence World Premiere? George Benjamin and Martin Crimp's opera will run through May 26 at London's Royal Opera House.
Barbara Hannigan, Stéphane Degout, and Ocean Barrington-Cook Stephen Cummiskey

The world premiere of composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp’s opera Lessons in Love and Violence opened at London’s Royal Opera House May 10. The production, directed by Katie Mitchell, runs through May 26.

In the opera, a king is forced to choose between love and political expediency, with his decisions allowing his country to slide into civil war and his family to turn against him. The cast includes Ocean Barrington-Cook, Samuel Boden, Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare, and Gyula Orendt.

Medici.tv will live-stream the final performance (video) on May 26 at 2:30PM ET.

Critics have begun filing their reviews; read them below.

The Arts Desk (Alexandra Coghlan)

Evening Standard (Barry Millington)

Financial Times (Richard Fairman)

The Guardian (Andrew Clements)

The Guardian (Fiona Maddocks)

Independent (Michael Church)

Metro (Warwick Thompson)

The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini)

The Stage (George Hall)

Sunday Express (Clare Colvin)

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver)

Telegraph (Rupert Christiansen)

Time Out London (Alice Saville)

The Times (Richard Morrison)

 

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