The King Goes Forth to France
13th January 2009
© FMIC
Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen’s third opera was commissioned by Savonlinna Festival, the BBC and the Royal Opera House. It was performed at Covent Garden in 1987 and this is its only subsequent production in this country. The libretto is described as 'A chronicle for the music theatre of the coming Ice Age' and is based on a radio play by Paavo Haavikko, which is a contemporary fantasy on themes from Froissart's account of the Hundred Years War. It is equally topical today as in the 1980s and has many contemporary references. Sallinen's music is lyrical, powerfully evocative and eminently approachable.
Tickets: £22.50 (£15 concessions) available from Barbican Box Office 0845 120 7500 (www.barbican.org.uk) from 4 February. Group discount available (020 7382 7211).
