FULL Into the Little Hill (Benjamin) Helsinki 2023 Anu Komsi, Hilary Summers

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Into the Little Hill Composer: Libretto:   
• Composer: Benjamin George  
• Libretto: Martin Grimp  
• Venue & Opera Company: Concert Hall, The Helsinki Music Centre, Finland  
• Recorded: November 15, 2023
• Type: Concert Live

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

PROGRAM NOTES

György Ligeti: Lontano
Joel Järventausta: Sunfall, first performance in Finland
George Benjamin: Into the Little Hill, first performance in Finland

George Benjamin’s chamber opera Into the Little Hill tells the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin as a political allegory. It is scored for a small, unusual orchestra and there are only two vocal parts; the audience just has to imagine the rats.

Described by the composer as a “lyric tale in two parts”, the libretto is by playwright Martin Crimp and it is Benjamin’s first stage work. They have since collaborated on a further two operas, Written on Skin (2012) and Lessons in Love and Violence (2018). All three works draw upon medieval subject matter in some way, and Into the Little Hill is a modern retelling of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Crimp has stated that he was introduced to Benjamin by musicologist Laurence Dreyfus.

The piece was commissioned by Festival d’Automne à Paris. It premiered at Opéra Bastille on 22 November 2006, conducted by Franck Ollu, directed by Daniel Jeanneteau, and performed by Anu Komsi and Hilary Summers with instrumentalists from Ensemble Modern. It has since been performed in over 100 productions in Europe, North America, China, Australia. It is approximately 40 minutes in length.

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