Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland

Jump down the rabbit hole, but don’t expect a colourful cartoon world. Unsuk Chin’s surreal, nightmarish opera based on Lewis Carroll’s timeless novel is like nothing else you’ll ever see. And nothing you’ve ever heard, either, as jagged atonalism meets crystalline flourishes of texture and melody. Premiered at the Bavarian State Opera in 2007, every aspect of the production has enjoyed enormous acclaim. Now the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Baldur Brönimann, finally brings Chin’s masterpiece to the London stage.

Playwright David Henry Hwang, famed for deconstructing the Puccini classic in M. Butterfly (1998), co-wrote the English libretto with Chin. Netia Jones, widely considered the most innovative opera working in Britain today, directs a multi-media production, using projections and videos alongside the physical stage set. Her most recent production, of Britten’s Curlew River, was declared “flawless” by The Telegraph’s Rupert Christiansen.

The title role is played by American coloratura soprano Rachele Gilmore. During her debut performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2009, which she attended at a few hours’ notice, she reached the highest note the venue had ever heard. Quickly catapulted to international fame, over the past few years she has become renowned for her clarity, emotion perfection and dramatic ability. Veteran mezzo-soprano Jane Hensechel plays the Queen of Hearts.

Born in Korea but based in Berlin, Unsuk Chin was taught by modernist master György Ligeti. Initially an electronic composer, her work takes inspiration from the great composers of the mid-twentieth century while synthesizing influences from medieval song, Balinese gamelan and electronic music. Her settings, often of playful contemporary poetry, are exquisite. Chin is widely accredited one of the most exciting forces in contemporary music, and over the past decade has won numerous honours, including the Grawemeyer Award, the Arnold Schönberg Prize and the Prince Pierre Foundation composition Award. Alice in Wonderland is her first opera.