$79 - $25 under 25yo
Dates

Eight Songs for a Mad King
Auckland Arts Festival 2020

Get outside the box of opera as you know it at this innovative indoor/outdoor staging of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ “astonishing work” (Classical Source) Eight Songs for a Mad King at the Ellen Melville Centre.

In this new production by New Zealand Opera sees a King in distress transformed into a modern corporate everyman to explore our complicated relationship with mental health and power. As an added twist, you will experience the action up close, and from outside with only a window separating you and the King. 

Maxwell Davies’ iconic score derives from the songs King George III played on his mechanical organ and attempted to train his bullfinches to sing. The music requires a baritone of extraordinary technique to sing over five octaves with New Zealander Robert Tucker fit for the challenge. Partnering with the ground-breaking contemporary music ensemble Stroma, this modern take on opera promises to be a bold and immersive experience.

Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Text Randolph Stow and George III
Directed Thomas de Mallet Burgess
Designed  Robin Rawstorne
Conductor Hamish McKeich
Orchestra Stroma
The King Robert Tucker

These performances of Eight Songs for a Mad King by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies are given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agents for Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd of London.

Early Bird tickets on sale until Mon 9 Dec. Subject to availability.
 

$2 per hour to a max of $12 on weekends and a $12 flat rate for weekday evenings at The Civic car park. Find out more

Last updated: 05 November 2019