Grange Park Opera

Love, Devotion and the Cosmos: Krishna’s Eternal Dance

A world première

Tavener spent his life studying religions in search of a truth. At the end of his life, he found Krishna and wrote this mystic pantomime. He described the central love scene as “the most ecstatic piece of music I have ever written”.

Krishna is the cause of all causes; he is in every heart.

This rare offering inspired by the divine presence of Krishna 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.

Experience the wonderful pastimes of Krishna on the operatic stage in a world first.

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.

Cast & Creatives

CELESTIAL NARRATOR ∙ ROSS RAMGOBIN
BHUMI as a weeping cow ∙ SARA FULGONI
YASHODA, Krishna’s mother ∙ SARA FULGONI – sponsored by Joyce Acher
KRISHNA as a child  ∙ ROSA SPARKS
KRISHNA as an adolescent ∙ ELIRAN KADUSSI – Bursary winner of International Opera Awards
KRISHNA as a young man ∙ ELGAN LLŶR THOMAS
KRISHNA as a man ∙ BRETT POLEGATO
RADHA, Krishna’s childhood sweetheart ∙ JULIA SITKOVETSKY
RADHA as a child ∙ JENNIFER STATHAM
RUKMINI, Krishna’s wife ∙ NAZAN FIKRET – Bursary winner of International Opera Awards
ONSTAGE DRUMMER ∙ NAO MASUDA

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