Opera in 3 parts
Libretto by Martin Crimp after an medieval Langue d'oc story (anon.)
First performed July 7 2012, Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence
Sung in English with German & English surtitles
Introductory talks (in German) in the Holzfoyer 30 mins before curtain up, available here shortly after opening night and everywhere where podcasts can be found.
A wealthy man wants to immortalise his life and success in an illustrated book, which confronts him with an uncomfortable reality.
The Protector has everything he could wish for: money, estates and the – in his words - »still, obedient body« of his wife Agnès. But the book, throws his life out of kilter: Agnès, fascinated by the young artist and his sensitive nature, starts an affair with him. When the Protector finds out he kills young man before forcing his unwitting wife to eat his heart. But Agnès turns her greatest humiliation into a personal triumph.
George Benjamin’s Written on Skin is one of the 21st century’s most successful operas. The libretto, written by Martin Crimp, is based on a Middle Ages legend about the »eaten heart«, grown up around the Troubadour Guillem de Cabestanh, from Provence: after having an affair with the wife of one of his sponsors, the artist met a violent death. Crimp tells the drama in a crystal clear language which, together with Benjamin’s music, develops extraordinary depths. The opera’s like a play within a play: three angels, moving effortlessly between now and then, take on various roles and keep the momentum going. They end up witnessing a tragedy, in which man’s propensity for violence is as clear as his potential creativeness.
