*Written On Skin (opera)

George Benjamin-Written On Skin

Written on Skin is an opera by the British composer George Benjamin.

Benjamin's first full-length opera, it was premiered at the 2012 Aix-en-Provence Festival as a commission from five opera centres,[1] and received its British premiere at the Royal Opera House in London in March 2013 and its Paris premiere at the Opéra-Comique in November that year; Benjamin conducted for all of these premiere seasons.

The libretto by Martin Crimp, who also wrote the libretto for Benjamin's first opera Into The Little Hill, is based on legend of the troubadour Guillaume de Cabestanh;[2] the story is also repeated in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. The action takes place in 13th-century Provence.

The opera is divided into 15 scenes. The Protector (a rich land-owner) pays the Boy (an artist) to create and illustrate a manuscript about his family. The Boy and the Protector's wife Agnès are attracted to each other. Incensed by the reawakened independence of his wife, the Protector murders the Boy and forces Agnès unwittingly to eat the heart of the Boy. Agnès commits suicide. 'Angels' comment throughout on the action from a modern-day perspective.[3]

One reviewer described the music as "glistening, mysterious sounds" from the orchestra (which includes a viola da gamba) in "Benjamin's most vivid music to date, in a score embracing everything from sensuousness to explosive ferocity".[1]

The success of the opera in performance has motivated the Royal Opera to commission a new full-length opera by Crimp and Benjamin, to be premiered in 2018. The title is not yet known.[4]

Roles

A scene from a 2018 performance of the opera by Opera Philadelphia

Synopsis

Part I

    • Scene 1: Chorus of Angels.

The chorus introduce the setting of 800 years ago when books were "written on skin," introducing the protagonists, the Protector (a wealthy landowner) "addicted to purity and violence" and Agnès his wife, his "property." One of the angels transforms into the Boy, a manuscript illuminator.

    • Scene 2: The Protector, Agnès and the Boy

The Protector asks the boy to create a book celebrating his life, showing his enemies in Hell and his family in Paradise. The Boy shows the Protector as sample of his work. Agnès distruts the boy and is skeptical of the creation of images picturing their lives but her objections are overruled by the Protector.

    • Scene 3: Chorus of Angels

The Angels recall the brutality of the biblical story of Creation and its hostility toward women.

    • Scene 4: Agnès and the Boy

Unknown to her husband, Agnès visits the Boy's workshop to see how a book is made. When the Boy shows a picture of Eve, Agnès laughs and challenges him to make an image of a real woman, one that he could want sexually.

    • Scene 5: The Protector and the visitors, John and Marie

With the approach of winter, the Protector ruminates on Agnès's changed demeanor. She hardly talks or eats, turns her back on him, and pretends to sleep at night. Marie and John (Agnès's sister and brother-in-law) arrive for a visit. Marie is skeptical of the idea of writing a book and questions why the Boy is treated like a member of the family. This arouses the Protector's anger who defends the Boy, the book and threatens to forbid Marie and John from entering his property.

    • Scene 6: Agnès and the Boy

That night, the Boy visits Agnès in her room alone and shows a picture of the kind she wished for. At first not recognizing it, she gradually realizes the painted image (of a woman on a bed) is of her. They look at the picture together and Agnès offers herself to the Boy.

Part II

    • Scene 7: The Protector's bad dream

The Protector dreams that his people are rebelling against the book, and that there are rumors of a secret page where Agnès is shown gripping the Boy in bed.

    • Scene 8: The Protector and Agnès

The Protect wakes up from the dream and reaches for Agnès, who is standing by the window watching the Protector's men burn villages. She asks her husband to touch and kiss her but he's disgusted by her request and says that it is her behavior is the result of her childishness. She angrily refuses the description of being a child and challenges her husband to go to the boy and "ask him what I am."

    • Scene 9: The Protector and the Boy

In the woods the Protector confronts the boy and asks with whom he is sleeping with and whether it's Agnès. Wanting to protect Agnès, the Boy fabricates a story where he is sleeping with Marie. Satisfied, the Protector returns to the house and tells Agnès that the boy is sleeping with "that whore your sister."

    • Scene 10: Agnès and the Boy

Believe the Protector's story, Agnès accuses the Boy of betraying her, but the Boy explains he lied to protect her. She responds by saying he was only protecting himself. She tells the Boy that if he really loved her he would tell the truth and punish the Protector for treating Agnès like a child. She demands that the boy create an image that will destroy the husband's smugness.

Part III

    • Scene 11: The Protector, Agnès and the Boy

The Boy shows the Protector and Agnès some pages from the manuscript, including images of atrocities. The Protect asks to see images of Paradise but the Boy responds that these images are Paradise and questions whether the Protector sees images of his own family and property in them. Agnès then asks to be shown the images of Hell. The Boy presents her with a page of writing, frustrating Agnès because, as a woman, she has never been taught how to read. The Boy leaves, leaving the Protector and Agnès with this "secret page."

    • Scene 12: The Protector and Agnès

The Protector reads the page of writing. The Boy has written a page that describes in detail his relationship with Agnès. This makes the Protector furious, but satisfies Agnès because it shows the Boy did exactly what she wanted. Ignoring her husband's anger, she asks him to show her the word for love."

    • Scene 13: Chorus of Angels and the Protector

The Angels describe the cruelty of a God who creates man with conflicting desires, making him "ashamed to be human." The Protector goes into the wood and murders the Boy.

    • Scene 14: The Protector and Agnès

The Protector attempts to reassert control over Agnès, telling her what to say. Sitting at a long table she is forced to eat a meal to prove her obedience. The Protector repeatedly asks her how the food tastes and is infuriated by her response that it tastes good. He then reveals that she has eaten the Boy's heart. This provokes an outburst in Agnès who says that no act of violence will remove the taste of the Boy's heart from her mouth.

    • Scene 15: The Boy/Angel 1

The Boy reappears as the Angel and shows one more picture. The image shows the Protector wanting to kill Agnès but she prefers to take her own life by jumping off the balcony. The image captures Agnès suspended in air as she falls from the balcony. Three angels painted in the margin turn to the audience.