Synopsis
Caught between the requirements of love and his political duties, a king is led to make a fatal decision, which plunges his country into a civil war and turns his wife and son against him. In order to restore peace, his son, in turn, will have to execute a terrifying act in front of his mother.

The Confirmation of a Great Talent
At its premiere in 2018, at Covent Garden, Lessons in Love and Violence confirmed the talent of the British composer, George Benjamin, who had already drawn attention thanks to his previous opera, Written on Skin, which was both a critical and public success. His ability to capture the mood of the times, without succumbing to the obsessions of fashion, his feeling for theatre and prosody, associated with a genuine taste for the English language, have helped to place him at the summit of the world of contemporary operatic composers. And his creative vigour, capable of up-dating ancient myths, has even meant that he has been compared to the great Benjamin Britten. For his Lessons in Love and Violence, George Benjamin has once again sought out his usual accomplice, the author Martin Crimp, along with the sensually disturbing scenic visions of the stage director Katie Mitchell. This striking team is rounded off by an exceptional cast “led” by Stéphane Degout, who trained at the Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra de Lyon.

Opera, 2018
Libretto by Martin Crimp
New production
Creation, commission and coproduction by the Opera de Lyon, the Royal Opera House of London, the Muziektheater of Amsterdaw, the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Opera of Chicago, the Liceu of Barcelona and the Teatro Real of Madrid

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