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Alexander
Litvinenko was a Russian former FSB officer turned political dissident, who moved to London in 2000 and was murdered there in December 2006. Bolton, who until his retirement in 2014 was a finance executive and an amateur composer, purchased in 2012 the opera rights to the biography by
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The opera's official premiere was on 15 July 2021, and a second performance was given on 17 July, but these had been preceded by a public final rehearsal on 13 July. The opera was directed by
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294:. Lugovoy meets Litvinenko and poisons him with polonium in his tea. The final scene returns to Litvinenko's final speech and death; his wife sings a lament.
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as one of those responsible. Bolton has written that, with this, "the final piece of the jigsaw was in place and I could compose in earnest."
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A variety of scenes include: Litvinenko and his wife reminiscing on their six years of life in
Britain and his former work with the
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The opera is in two acts each of which contains scenes covering a variety of times and locations.
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Morrison, Richard (17 July 2021). "A worthy tale of murder and mayhem - shame about the music".
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Critical reception of the opera was muted, although the staging and production were admired. In
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Berezovsky assists the escape of
Litvinenko and his family to the UK. He hosts a party at
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Grange Park (2021), "The Spaced Season: Programme Book 2021" (Handbook for 2021 season).
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36:. Written between 2012 and 2020, and based on the experiences and murder of the former
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In a prologue, set in a London hospital in 2006, a chorus tells of the chemical
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Anthony Bolton, "A Decade in the Making", in Grange Park (2021), p. 99
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The
Theatre in the Woods at Grange Park Opera photo: Richard Lewisohn
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in Moscow in 2002, and the reporting of the event by the reporter
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and
Litvinenko, on his hospital deathbed, gives a final speech.
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determined that
Litvinenko had been murdered by poisoning with
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2020 Anthony Bolton opera about the
Russian murdered in London
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466:"The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko"
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21:The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko
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381:"Synopsis", Grange Park (2021), p. 93
372:"Synopsis", Grange Park (2021), p. 92
48:in 2020, but this was delayed by the
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408:Coghlan, Alexandra (16 July 2021).
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464:Shapiro, Yehuda (16 July 2021).
121:Grange Park Opera, July 15, 2021
40:officer and political activist
549:Operas set in the 21st century
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436:Hewett, Ivan (16 July 2021).
256:siege of the Dubrovka Theatre
128:Saha (Alexander) Litvinenko
123:(Conductor: Stephen Barlow)
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363:Grange Park (2021), p. 91.
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524:Operas set in England
100:BBC Concert Orchestra
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52:epidemic until 2021.
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529:Operas set in Russia
72:Death of a Dissident
42:Alexander Litvinenko
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34:Kit Hesketh-Harvey
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116:Voice type
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64:Background
471:The Stage
394:The Times
327:The Stage
318:, in the
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298:Reception
83:, naming
264:Chechnya
245:polonium
231:Synopsis
172:Head of
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143:his wife
81:polonium
50:COVID-19
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477:17 July
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148:soprano
509:Operas
278:Act II
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24:is an
339:Notes
239:Act I
132:tenor
113:Role
106:Roles
26:opera
479:2021
451:2021
423:2021
218:Man
209:bass
252:FSB
174:KGB
38:FSB
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