Libretto by Thea Musgrave based on Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando
Sung in English with English side-titles
A Buxton International Festival production featuring the Buxton International Festival Orchestra.
Scottish composer Thea Musgrave is one of opera’s most original voices, with over a dozen major stage works to her name. She gained international acclaim with her 1977 masterpiece, Mary, Queen of Scots, which established her reputation for powerful storytelling. Known for her bold, inventive music, Musgrave brings complex characters and deep human emotion vividly to life on stage.
“Woolf’s Orlando elaborates upon two universal human goals: to find the right mate in life, and to find one’s life’s work – and then to balance them both,” Thea says in her introduction to her chamber opera. “It is a deeply personal creation and a work which hopes to shed light on the absurdities (as Woolf saw them) of Edwardian attitudes to sexuality and the role of the female in society.”
Guided by Virginia Woolf herself, this joyful opera follows the charismatic Orlando on an extraordinary journey through centuries of passion, identity, and transformation. Sweeping from the court of Elizabeth I to Constantinople, Orlando experiences passionate loves, bitter betrayals, and artistic struggle before waking to a stunning transformation: he is now a woman. Navigating a world of changing desires and societal expectations, Orlando embraces life with wit and courage. Thea Musgrave’s chamber opera is a vibrant, witty celebration of self-discovery, resilience, and the enduring power of love.
Buxton International Festival is proud to present the world premiere of Thea Musgrave’s Orlando: An Escapade and is grateful to Ellen Golde for her generous support of this production.
Orlando – An Escapade is supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society, with a grant from the RPS Thea Musgrave Fund.
By arrangement with NOVELLO & CO LTD
Opera image coming soon
