World Premiere of Osmo Tapio Räihälä’s Farmer George set for Bregenzer Festspiele
Composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä’s new monodrama "Farmer George" will have its world premiere on 19 July at the Bregenzer Festspiele opera festival in Austria. The work explores the life of King George III of Great Britain and Ireland during the period preceding his mental decline.
Farmer George was conceived as a companion piece to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s 1969 avant-garde work Eight Songs for a Mad King. Both monodramas share a similar format, featuring a baritone soloist and a six-member instrumental ensemble, and will be performed consecutively in Bregenz Festspiele.
The libretto for Farmer George was written by baritone Thomas Florio (pictured above), who is also set to perform the title role at the premiere. A workshop held in Helsinki in February helped finalize the structure and text of the libretto.
The premiere brings together a highly regarded group of performers – ticket availability is limited, which indicates strong interest in the production. Read more about the premiere here.