Simon Holt

The Nightingale's To Blame

This new Opera was first performed in 1998 in Huddersfield by Opera North. Designed for the modern stage, it utilises only a small cast and orchestra - albeit one with a good variety of percussion! The libretto is adapted by the composer from the play 'The Love of Don Pemperlin for Belisa in the Garden' by Feredico Garcia Lorca, translated into English by David Johnston. The plot revolves around the ill-fated marriage of Don Pemperlin, an ageing bachelor and his beautiful neighbour Belisa, which was suggested by Pemperlin's maid. Tricks and misunderstandings abound and because of them, Pemperlin ends by stabbing himself and dying even as Belisa proclaims her love for him.