Written in 1979, this operatic work is based on the un-solved mystery of 3 lighthouse keepers, who all vanished from their lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. Maxwell Davies got the original inspiration for the work from reading Craig Mair's book on the Stevenson family of Edinburgh, who produced several generations of lighthouse engineers. In December 1900, the lighthouse supply ship went on a routine trip to the Flannan Isles, and found it completely empty.
The opera consists of a prologue and one act. The Prologue is set in a Court of Inquiry, where the three officers of the lighthouse ship are questioned by the orchestra about the disappearance of the lighthouse keepers. The main act (subtitled as The Cry of the Beast) is set inside the lighthouse, with the three keepers who eventually vanish.
CAST & CREW
Richard Baker conductor
Ted Huffman director
Neil Irish designer
Guy Hoare lighting designer
Adam Tunnicliffe tenor - Sandy
Nicholas Merryweather baritone - Blazes
Richard Mosley-Evans bass - Arthur
DATES
October 11 & 13 2012 - Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. SOLD OUT
October 16 2012 - West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge. BOOK NOW
October 24 2012 - Exeter Northcott, Stocker Road, Exeter. BOOK NOW
November 1 2012 - Harrogate Theatre, Oxford Sreet, Harrogate. BOOK NOW
November 6 2012 - Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath. BOOK NOW
November 9 2012 - Aldeburgh Music, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape. BOOK NOW
For more information, please visit the English Touring Opera website.
