The piece was written between 1960 and 1964, with the enthusiastic support of C.S. Lewis. In a 1962 letter to Marsh, Lewis wrote: “I think [the libretto] just stunningly good. It brought tears to my eyes in places.” Done right, “it will be terrific. I very heartily congratulate you.” The opera was also very dear to Swann’s heart, and contains some of his most lyrical music.
The opera opened to enthusiastic reviews in Oxford, Cambridge, London, and later New York. The sale of the film rights shortly after Lewis’s death, however, placed a long-term embargo on its performance.
The opera is now receiving a long-awaited second premiere in its original, three-act form. It will be performed in Oxford, UK, on June 25, 26 and 28, 2009, and recorded by Oxford Records. The performance run will be accompanied by a two-day international colloquium on C.S. Lewis’s Perelandra in all its aspects: literary, theological, philosophical, and musical. A keynote address will be given by Walter Hooper.
A Call for Papers is now available on the website. A competition for subject-related artwork for display at the performance and on its products has also been announced, and Alan Lee, best known for his Tolkien illustrations and conceptual artwork for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is to judge the competition. The closing date is February 15, 2009. The full announcement is available on the website.
Please click
here for more details, or contact the production team at admin@perelandraproject.org
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