About this item

Lessons in Love and Violence is an opera with music by George Benjamin and text by Martin Crimp. The opera, which is based on the story of King Edward II and Piers Gaveston and covers the events set out in Christopher Marlowe's play Edward II, which combines the story of Edward and Gaveston with the deposition of Edward II by Mortimer and the overthrow of Mortimer and Edward's queen Isabella of France by Edward III. The opera is in two parts, of four and three scenes respectively, and is performed without a break. The opera was co-commissioned by the Royal Opera Covent Garden London, the Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Staatsoper Hamburg, Opera de Lyon, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona and Teatro Real Madrid. This production was recorded by the Dutch National Opera in June and July of 2018.