1984: Orwell’s dystopian vision hits opera stage

Lorin Maazel’s new opera 1984 had been the talk of the season even prior to its premiere. The production is a unique collaboration between The Royal Opera and Maazel’s own company, Big Brother Productions. Maazel’s personal financial contribution is said to be in the vicinity of £400’000 (€ 600’000; $ 800,000). This all has raised the question why a top-class opera house should welcome the vanity project of a rich conductor, whose reputation as a composer is far from solid, over commissioning new works from poorer but promising opera composers – of whom there is no shortage – such as Thomas Adès in the previous season.

The opera, which has now received its premiere, has proved to be as unique as the manner of its production. The work is an adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, which presents…