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''The Lighthouse'' is a chamber opera with words and music by Peter Maxwell Davies. The scenario was inspired by a true story. In December 1900 a lighthouse supply ship called the ''Hesperus'', based in Stromness, Orkney, went on its routine tour of duty to the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The lighthouse was empty - all three beds and the table looked as if they had been left in a hurry and the lamp, though out, was in perfect working order, but the men had disappeared into thin air. The composer has taken liberties, and changed the name of the lighthouse to Fladda, this being not a usual name in the Western Isles of Scotland, to avoid offence or distress to any relatives of those concerned in the original incident. ==Production history== It was first performed in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 2 September 1980 as part of the Edinburgh Festival. The singers were Neil Mackie (tenor), Michael Rippon (baritone) and David Wilson-Johnson (bass-baritone) with The Fires of London conducted by Richard Dufallo. In 1983 the Boston Shakespeare Company presented a production directed by Peter Sellars featuring Michael Brown (tenor), Sanford Sylvan (baritone), Kenneth Bell (bass), conducted by David Hoose, video by Michael Nishball, costumes by Ellen McCartney and lighting by James F. Ingalls. Writing for ''The New York Times'', John Rockwell described the production as "superbly realized musically and thrilling as theater." Another Boston company, Boston Lyric Opera gave two performances in February 2012.〔( Zachery Woolfe, "Did They Crumble Into Thin Air? Only the Fog Could Tell", ''The New York Times'' ), 9 February 2012 on www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 12 October 2012〕 The Dallas Opera gave three performances of the work as part of its "Chamber Opera Series" in March 2012.〔( Detailed outline of the opera and its production staff on dallasopera.org ) Retrieved 12 October 2012〕 English Touring Opera, which is based in London, presented two performances there in October 2012 〔(''The Lighthouse'' review on theartsdesk.com ) Retrieved 12 October 2012〕 along with five others in different English locations in October and November. 〔( ETO's website listing )〕 〔( George Hall, "''The Lighthouse''– review", ''The Guardian'' (London), 12 October 2012 ) Retrieved 13 October 2012〕〔("''The Lighthouse'' - English Touring Opera - Linbury Studio, 11 October 2012" (with production photos) on intermezzo.typepad.com: ) "It was a pleasure to see a full house, not to mention a surprise - so many people wrongly imagine that "modern" music is by definition unlistenable, or needs a degree to decipher. I do hope that prospective tour audiences won't make that mistake." Retrieved 14 October 2012〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Lighthouse (opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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