The Second Mrs Kong is an opera in two acts, with music by Sir Harrison Birtwistle to a libretto by Russell Hoban. Glyndebourne Touring Opera first staged the opera on 24 October 1994. The cast included Philip Langridge, Helen Field and Michael Chance. Tom Cairns designed and directed the production, in collaboration with choreographer Aletta Collins. Elgar Howarth was the conductor. This production was recorded for the National Video Archive of ...
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The Second Mrs Kong is an opera in two acts, with music by Sir Harrison Birtwistle to a libretto by Russell Hoban. Glyndebourne Touring Opera first staged the opera on 24 October 1994. The cast included Philip Langridge, Helen Field and Michael Chance. Tom Cairns designed and directed the production, in collaboration with choreographer Aletta Collins. Elgar Howarth was the conductor. This production was recorded for the National Video Archive of Performance by the V&A; Theatre Museum. This recording is available to view by appointment at the V&A; Collections Centre and Reading Room in Olympia, London.
The opera is a mix of ancient and modern mythologies as well as history. Jonathan Cross has commented that the work, "like so many of Birtwistle's operas....is concerned with mythology" and is more about "the idea of Kong" rather than King Kong as such. He has also analysed parallels between this work and Birtwistle's earlier opera The Mask of Orpheus. Robert Adlington has critically...
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