Alexander Raskatov’s “Animal Farm” has won in the World Premiere category at the International Opera Awards in Warsaw last night.
Animal Farm, George Orwell’s celebrated novel, turned into an opera by the Dutch National Opera, has won in the World Premiere category at the International Opera Awards gala held last night at the Wielki Theatre in Warsaw, home of the Polish National Opera.
The opera, which premiered on 3 March at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, is a composition by the Russian composer Alexander Raskatov (Moscow, 1953), who also wrote the libretto, in collaboration with Ian Burton. In 2010, Raskatov had already adapted the novel Heart of a Dog by the Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov. In Animal Farm – Orwell’s novel satirising Joseph Stalin and the conversion of socialism into an authoritarian dictatorship – Raskatov has incorporated his own experiences of Russia’s tense political history.
The opera was conducted by Bassem Akiki and stage direction by Damiano Michieletto. Following its premiere in Amsterdam, Animal Farm will soon be performed at the other opera institutions that have co-produced it: the Wiener Staatsoper (the first to programme it, with a premiere scheduled for 28 February 2024), the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.