Written on Skin

Written on Skin

Main series

30. May 2024 at 19:30

Buy

Written on skin

‘If opera is a dead art form, someone forgot to tell George Benjamin." These words came from a journalist who was enthralled by "Written on Skin." Tonight, the enchanting music lives on in Stavanger.’

‘Incredibly beautiful… the pinnacle of contemporary output.’
Le Monde (Renaud Machart), 10 July 2012

Three angels look back to a period in the past when books were precious artefacts with texts written on skin. One of the angels acts out the role of an olden-day illustrator who has been commissioned by the rich and powerful Protector to create a beautifully illuminated manuscript setting out the Protector’s biography. In his patron’s home the angel encounters Agnès, the Protector’s younger wife, who is still a virgin on account of her husband’s self-imposed abstinence. Despite this, he is jealous and keeps a close eye on her – to no avail, because Agnès begins an affair with the angel in his incarnation as an artist. The Protector learns of their relationship and kills the illustrator. Then he serves his unwitting wife the heart of her lover as part of a meal.

Main series

Thursday 30. May 2024 at 19:30

Fartein Valen, Stavanger konserthus

Duration

Ca. 1 hour and 40 minutes

Program

Benjamin/Crimp: Written on Skin

Contributors

George Benjamin, conductor and composer (Composer-in-Residence)
Dan Ayling, director

Audun Iversen, The protector
Vera-Lotte Boecker, Agnes
Hugh Cutting, Angel 1/The boy
Rebecca Jo Loeb, Angel 2/Marie
Alasdair Kent, Angel 3/John

Music: George Benjamin
Text: Martin Crimp
Commissioned by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence,
De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam), Théâtre du Capitole (Toulouse),
Royal Opera House Covent Garden (London),
Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Performed by arrangement with Faber Music, London.

George Benjamin

Composer

One of today’s most prominent composer-conductors, George Benjamin was born in 1960 and began composing at the age of seven.

Benjamin will conduct the world premiere Picture a day like this at the Aix-en-Provence opera festival in July 2023. As with his previous three operatic scores, the text was written by playwright Martin Crimp. Into the Little Hill, was commissioned by the 2006 Festival d’Automne in Paris. Since its premiere in Aix in 2012, Written on Skin has won many international prizes and has been seen in numerous different productions world-wide. Lessons in Love and Violence, was premiered at the Royal Opera House in May 2018 and many performances have been scheduled around the world.

As a conductor Benjamin has a broad repertoire – ranging from Mozart and Schumann to Knussen and Abrahamsen -  and has been responsible for numerous premieres, including important works by Rihm, Chin, Murail, Grisey and Ligeti. Over many years he has developed a particularly close association with Ensemble Modern, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the latter giving the world premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra at the 2021 BBC Proms under his baton.

Since 2001 Benjamin has been the Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King‘s College London. He has received numerous honorary fellowships and international awards including being knighted in the 2017 Birthday Honours, and most recently Benjamin has been made the 50th laureate of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
Audun Iversen

Soloist

Audun Iversen, the Norwegian baritone, is a renowned vocalist with an impressive career. After graduating from the Norwegian Academy of Music in 2005, he established himself as an outstanding artist. He won the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in 2007 and has since achieved success on international stages, with roles such as Figaro in “The Barber of Seville” and the title role in “Eugene Onegin”. Iversen has collaborated with leading conductors such as Antonio Pappano and Riccardo Muti, and has been in demand as a concert singer worldwide.
Vera-Lotte Boecker

Soloist

The soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker is regarded as one of the most versatile singers of her generation. In 2022, she was named Singer of the Year by the magazine “Opernwelt”.

Highlights from her career include her role debuts as Daphne at the Staatsoper Berlin and as Lulu at the Wiener Festwochen. She was recognized for her portrayal of Nadja in Georg Friedrich Haas’s “Bluthaus” at Munich’s opera house, earning her the prestigious title of Singer of the Year by “Opernwelt”.

Vera-Lotte’s career has been enriched by her time at the Komische Oper Berlin and the Vienna State Opera, where she performed a diverse repertoire ranging from Mozart to contemporary works by composers such as Haas and Berg. Her extensive training includes studies at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music, Opera Academy of the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, and Berlin University of the Arts under the guidance of Beatrice Niehoff.
Hugh Cutting

Soloist

Hugh Cutting, a former choral scholar at St. John’s College, Cambridge, recently graduated from the Royal College of Music. He was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal upon graduation, and has won the Kathleen Ferrier Award and become a BBC New Generation Artist.

He made his debut at Opernhaus Zürich and regularly performs at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall. He has collaborated with leading ensembles and orchestras, including The Sixteen and The King’s Consort. His performances include works by Bach, Handel, and Monteverdi.

Hugh has recorded works by Purcell for Signum Classics and has established himself as a skilled soloist and chamber musician.
Rebecca Jo Loeb

Soloist

Rebecca Jo Loeb is a lmezzo-soprano specializing in contemporary repertoire and has performed on international stages. She has portrayed various roles, including Wife/Doreen/Waitress 1 in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the world premiere of Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels at the Spoleto Festival. Other performances include digital and live concerts with the New York Festival of Song, and the role of Fyodor at the Metropolitan Opera in Boris Godunov. She has also made notable appearances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Hamburgische Staatsoper with a range of roles in classical repertoire. Loeb is also an active participant in concerts and festival stages worldwide.
Alasdair Kent

Soloist

In the few short years since coming to international attention, Alasdair Kent has established himself as a tenor of choice, receiving sustained critical and public acclaim in a wide repertoire thanks to his “absolutely secure-on-high and outstandingly technically-schooled tenor,” his “voice too beautiful to convey in words,” and his “striking good looks.” As a leading man in the operas of Rossini & Mozart he is heard in the best opera houses of the world, such as the Wiener Staatsoper, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. He is increasingly associated with the Italian bel canto of Donizetti, Bellini & Verdi, with French opera ranging from the Baroque Rameau to the Romantic Bizet, and can be seen in concert in a repertoire that extends from Bach’s musically-complex oratorios to Carl Orff’s impossibly high Carmina Burana. Important upcoming projects include a variety of new productions at Opernhaus Zürich, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Opéra National de Lyon and the Theater an der Wien.

STAVANGER 27.08.2020: Andris Poga med Stavanger Symfoniorkester. Sesongpning 20/21.
Foto: Marie von Krogh

15. January

Valen, Rakhmaninov, and Strauss on Life and Death

Read more Buy

Main series

2026_01_22 Ava Bahari_2025-03-14-DSCF3212-Sba_©SylvainBarrès

22. January

Gupta, Hillborg and Tchaikovsky

Read more Buy

Main series

Foto Jonathan Vivaas Kise_R1-09581-0006_high

29 - 31. January

Acoustic Evening with Gabrielle

Read more Kjøp

Other

2026_02_05 Anna Geniushene

5. February

Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Beethoven

Read more Buy

Main series

2026_02_12 Karen Vourc'h

12. February

Carmen Suites and The Human Voice

Read more Buy

Main series

2026_02_20 Ana Maria Patino Osorio photo 1 Óscar Bernal

20. February

Piazzolla and Beethoven’s Seventh

Read more Buy

Classical series

2026_03_05 KristianS-Edits-Uudet-10-credits Tuomas Tenkanen

5. March

Sibelius’ Second Symphony

Read more Buy

Main series

2026_03_12 Griegs a-mollkonsert

12. March

Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor and Walton’s First Symphony

Read more Buy

Main series

2026_03_26 Faures Requiem

26. March

Salonen and Fauré’s Requiem

Read more Buy

Main series