Lichfield Festival presents the UK premiere of Stephen McNeff's chamber opera 'Beyond the Garden'

14 July 2022 20:00

Photo by: Michal Malek

'Beyond The Garden' is an intimate, new chamber opera, with music by composer Stephen McNeff and libretto by Irish poet, Aoife Mannix, inspired by the relationship between Alma Mahler – ‘the most beautiful girl in Vienna’, composer and muse to artists including Klimt, as well as wife to the great Gustav Mahler – and her daughter, Manon. Set in 1960s New York, McNeff’s opera explores memory and reminiscence through the eyes of a woman looking back on her life, superbly realised by Susan Bickley, one of the world’s leading mezzo sopranos, who appears regularly on major opera stages worldwide, joined by Alison Rose and Gemini, conducted by Dominic Wheeler.

'A seductive blend of reality and illusion, Beyond the Garden invites us to ask about what is true and what is ghostly fantasy…'