Opera Scotland

Sir Harrison Birtwistle's 'The Last Supper'

Posted 10 Dec 2016

The Scottish premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's The Last Supper will be given with an all-star cast on Saturday 14 January 2017 in a rare concert-staging. This will be  conductor Martyn Brabbins' first UK operatic appearance since his appointment as Music Director for English National Opera in October 2016. Brabbins leads the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and an all-star cast at Glasgow's City Halls.

The Last Supper, written by Birtwistle (pictured) in 2000, was last performed in the UK at Glyndebourne 15 years ago.

For this important musical event the BBC SSO has assembled an outstanding cast including Roderick Williams as Jesus and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston as Ghost. Birtwistle's opera, with a libretto by Robin Blaser, looks back over two millennia of Christianity. Ghost, a representative of humanity, invites Christ and his disciples to join us in our own age for a ritual of reflection. The disciples rediscover their memories of events, joyful and bitter, and wonder whether Christ himself will appear among them.

Tickets for the concert are free and available now from the Glasgow City Halls Box Office or via the BBC SSO website (bbc.co.uk/bbcsso). The concert will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Opera on 3 on Saturday 28 January at 6.30pm 

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