The Invited

An opera in two acts composed in 2013 for ‘Opera Room’. Duration: approx. 90 minutes.

The Invited is the second opera to be composed under the ‘Opera Room’ banner. Norman Welch’s libretto is set in 1916 against the backdrop of the Battle of the Somme. Two sisters – Emily and Violet – find themselves living alone, their mother is in a sanatorium, their father in Belgium tending the wounded. To the back drop of battle and thunderstorm, a melodrama in which reality and science is pitted against myth and poetry is played out between the sisters; the drama intensifies as their ex-housekeeper, Mrs Galloway, arrives with word of a death and an impending birth.

Performances:

November 14^th and 15^th 2013 at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, London

Emily: Emma Hall; Violet: Sarah Minns; Mrs Galloway: Miriam Sharrad

 August 21^st and 22^nd 2015 at Arcola Theatre, London as part of the ‘Grimeborn Opera Festival’

Cast as before

 Scoring: Emma (soprano), Violet (soprano),Mrs Galloway (mezzo-soprano)

Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Percussion, Piano and Strings 

To see the  opening page of the score, click here.  To see page 1 of ‘In the Shadow of Death’, Emily’s lament for the Somme, click here.

To see an extract from reviews of The Invited, click here.

 

 

PROJECT DETAILS