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Lessons in Love and Violence

The Royal Opera


No. of reviews: 26

Hand-picked for the roles, the cast is simply superb
14 Jun 18 / Opera Journal
Siete lecciones para siete teatros en noventa minutos
5 Jun 18 / Mundo Clásico (Spanish)
Lessons in Love and Violence is a compelling new opera
1 Jun 18 / National Business Review
A powerful and thought-provoking study in the complexity of human relations
28 May 18 / Planet Hugill
George Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence is in no way a masterpiece
24 May 18 / The Spectator
Pale and uninteresting
24 May 18 / The Critics' Circle
Lovely and never violent
22 May 18 / parterre box
An outstanding cast unveil a towering masterpiece
17 May 18 / Seen and Heard
Création mondiale de Lessons in Love and Violence à la Royal Opera House
16 May 18 / Opera Online (French)
Botschaft aus dem königlichen Schlafgemach
15 May 18 / FAZ
Die Oper flieht vor der Aktualität, auch dort wo sie sich aufdrängt
15 May 18 / Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Powerful musical utterances but perplexing dramatic motivations
14 May 18 / Opera Today
Musically brilliant, dramatically inert?
12 May 18 / Classical Iconoclast
Masterly score captures cruelty of royal court
12 May 18 / Evening Standard
Savage elegance never quite glows red-hot
12 May 18 / The Arts Desk
La nouvelle leçon de musique et de théâtre de George Benjamin et Martin Crimp
12 May 18 / Diapason
Icy beauty and dramatic tension
12 May 18 / Bachtrack
Katie Mitchell directs Martin Crimp and George Benjamin’s searing take on the story of Edward II
12 May 18 / Time Out
A long-awaited new opera is a raucous beauty
12 May 18 / New York Times
In terms of pure music, Lessons of Love and Violence is arguably a more rewarding creation than Written on Skin
12 May 18 / Classical Source
A Rolls Royce production that could use a few tunes
12 May 18 / Independent
A potent and beautiful account of Edward II's downfall
12 May 18 / Telegraph
George Benjamin’s modern-day retelling of Edward II’s demise is a bleak, lustrous opera that places a gay love story it its centre
12 May 18 / The Guardian
Martin Crimp’s libretto is anodyne, over-intellectualised and often boring, while Katie Mitchell’s staging is bland and bizarre
12 May 18 / The Times
A few more lessons needed for Lessons In Love And Violence
12 May 18 / Metro
George Benjamin’s new work on the subject of Edward II once again shows his operatic mastery
11 May 18 / The Stage
Can George Benjamin strike gold twice?
George Benjamin's opera Written on Skin was instantly declared a modern masterpiece – can he follow its success with Lessons in Love and Violence?
Katie Mitchell on ROH's brutal new opera
Her last production contained cannibalism and was staggeringly successful. Could Lessons in Love and Violence top it? We sit in on rehearsals as the revered director grapples with some bedside lamps.
Opera’s perfectionist tries to follow his masterpiece
George Benjamin, the painstaking composer of the acclaimed opera “Written on Skin,” prepares for the premiere of his “Lessons in Love and Violence.”
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