New George Benjamin Opera Is Commissioned

The Royal Opera, in London, has commissioned the composer George Benjamin to write his third opera, which will have its premiere at Covent Garden in spring 2018. The as-yet-untitled work will have a libretto by the prolific playwright Martin Crimp.

Mr. Crimp also wrote the librettos for Mr. Benjamin’s first two operas, “Into the Little Hill,” which had its premiere at the Festival d’Automne, in Paris, in 2006, and “Written on Skin,” which the Royal Opera co-commissioned with the Aix-en-Provence Festival and several other companies.  “Written on Skin” had its premiere at Aix-en-Provence in 2012; and has been performed at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam; at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, France; and at the Royal Opera. It has a run this month at the Theater an der Wien, in Vienna; and will turn up in concert form at Tanglewood in August.

“As a part of our focus on new commissions on all scales over the next years,” said Kasper Holten, the Royal Opera’s director of opera, “this will obviously be a key project.” Mr. Holten said that he expected that other companies would become partners in the commission, as was the case with “Written on Skin.”