Pascal Dusapin's dance opera Passion receives its UK premiere

Music Theatre Wales is joining forces with the National Dance Company of Wales to present the UK premiere of Pascal Dusapin's dance opera Passion. Performed in a new English translation by Amanda Holden, Passion will be co-directed by Michael McCarthy Artistic Director of Music Theatre Wales and Caroline Finn, Resident Choreographer of National Dance Company Wales, with Geoffrey Paterson conducting the London Sinfonietta, and Jennifer France (soprano) as Her and Johnny Herford (baritone) as Him, along with dancers from the National Dance Company of Wales and an off-stage vocal ensemble, Exaudi.

In the work Dusapin explores the pain and passion of two lovers who are forced to separate, using the myth of Orpheus as a starting point. A pupil of Iannis Xenakis and Franco Donatoni and an admirer of Varèse, Dusapin studied at the University of Paris I and Paris VIII during the 1970s and his score combines electronics with live instruments including harpsichord and oud.

Passion is being performed on a tour starting at the Anvil, Basingstoke (11 October) and continuing to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (13 October), Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff (23 October) Snape Maltings, Suffolk (30 October) and Lowry, Salford (6 November), ending at Theatr Clwyd, Mold on November 10.

Full details from the Music Theatre Wales website.