Opera Scotland

Death of Klinghoffer The Death of Klinghoffer

Tours by decade

Tours by location

Music

John Adams (born Worcester, Massachusetts, 15 February 1947)

Text

Alice Goodman

Source

Historical events

 

Premières

First Performance: Brussels (Théâtre de la Monnaie), 19 March 1991.

First Performance in UK: Manchester (Free Trade Hall), 23 April 1995 (concert).

First Performance in Scotland: Edinburgh (Festival Theatre), 23 August 2005.

Scottish Opera première: As above.

 

Background

Even more than with Nixon in China, the next collaboration between John Adams and Alice Goodman, with the constant involvement of director Peter Sellars, was a fascinating and controversial subject The hijacking in the Mediterranean of the cruise liner Achille Lauro and the subsequent murder of one passenger, had occurred as recently as 1985. The willingness of the creators to see events from every point of view was not easily accepted in some quarters. The original team of opera houses had included Glyndebourne, but it has never been heard there.

The Edinburgh staging seems to have been arranged very quickly by the Edinburgh Festival, giving Scottish Opera a prestigious appearance at a time when its dire financial troubles were about to result in serious cuts.