Powder Her Face

Thomas Adès

Opera in two acts

Libretto by Philip Hensher

Oct 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28 - 2023

• Conductor  Tim Anderson

• Staging  Georg Schmiedleitner

• Set Design  Harald Thor

• Costume Design  Tanja Hofmann

• Lighting Design  Marco Dietzel

• Dramaturgy  Johann Casimir Eule

• Duchess  Mary Plazas

• Maid  Katerina von Bennigsen

• Electrician  Peter Tantsits

• Hotel Manager  Andrew Nolen

Since its 1995 premiere in England, the chamber opera »Powder Her Face« has become one of the most performed operas on the British Isles. Thomas Adès (*1971) clearly touched a nerve with this early compositional work: the sensual, scandalous life of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (1912–1993), is depicted retrospectively through seven pictures, which ingeniously shift between imagination and memory. Scored for 15 instrumentalists and four soloists, some of whom dexterously perform multiple roles, this work pays homage to the popular musical styles of the time, from swing to tango, as well as to the music of Kurt Weill, Alban Berg and Igor Stravinsky.