Grange Park Opera

A mystic pantomime from this hugely popular composer

Grange Park Opera stages this world première from Sir John Tavener, a visionary, hugely popular composer whose friends included the Prince of Wales (now the King) and Ringo Starr.

Tavener dubbed Krishna a mystic pantomime. It mixes dance, ritualised tableaux and an ethereal sound world that includes eight flutes (four of them alto flutes) forming a halo around the God. 

Opera giant Sir David Pountney and celebrated choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh will take the work to Houston Grand Opera in Autumn 2027.

Cast & Creatives

CELESTIAL NARRATOR ∙ ROSS RAMGOBIN
BHUMI as a weeping cow ∙ SARA FULGONI
YASHODI, Krishna’s mother ∙ SARA FULGONI – sponsored by Joyce Acher
KRISHNA as an adolescent ∙ ELIRAN KADUSSI
KRISHNA as a young man ∙ ELGAN LLŶR THOMAS
KRISHNA as a man ∙ BRETT POLEGATO
RADHA, Krishna’s childhood sweetheart ∙ JULIA SITKOVETSKY
RUKMINI, Krishna’s wife ∙ NAZAN FIKRET

CONDUCTOR ∙ MARK SHANAHAN
DIRECTOR ∙ SIR DAVID POUNTNEY
DESIGNER ∙ RACHANA JADHAV
CHOREOGRAPHER ∙ SHOBANA JEYASINGH
LIGHTING DESIGNER ∙ TIM MITCHELL

Synopsis

Prologue A weeping cow cries for help. Demon kings torment the land. God comes to earth as Krishna.

Scene 1 As the boy Krishna appears, flowers rain down, the moon and stars shine with joy, demons flee. A sorceress, tries to poison the child Krishna, but he sucks out the poison and sends her soul to Paradise.

Scene 2 Krishna eats mud and his mother scolds him. She looks in his mouth and sees all of heaven and the universe.

Scene 3 Krishna and Radha meet as children and fall in love.

Scene 4 Gopi milkmaids are bathing; the adolescent Krishna steals their clothes.

Scene 5 Krishna dances with Radha, then with the cow-girls. They fight over him.

Scene 6 Krishna vanishes. The women are desolate.

Scene 7 Radha unites her soul to God.

Interval

Scene 8 Entr’acte. Krishna ventures through cosmic evil.

Scene 9 Krishna subdues the serpent.

Scene 10 Krishna abducts Rukmini.

Scene 11 Radha and Rukmini meet. United in their love of Krishna, their souls become one; their bodies melt into the single-being Krishna.

Scene 12 Krishna bids farewell to the world. Those who think of Him will never die.

Scene 13 Krishna returns to Paradise. His devotees jump onto the funeral pyre to gain Paradise.

Epilogue Krishna sings from Paradise: when evil prevails and truth declines, He will return to the world.

Mysticism lies at the heart of Sir John Tavener’s output. His quest to reflect in music different forms of spirituality has led to his huge popular appeal, with works like The Protecting Veil and Song for Athene.

Over a long composing career, Tavener was variously drawn to Roman Catholicism, Greek and Russian Orthodox traditions and Islam. In Krishna, one of his final works, he embraces Hinduism.

Opera giant Sir David Pountney leads the production team with celebrated choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh. The set design by Rachana Jadhav is an epic stepped Indian temple.

Tavener on BBC Composer of the Week: Listen

And we have a sound track of Krishna and Rhada’s love duet: