Powder Her Face

E606223

Powder Her Face is a contemporary chamber opera by British composer Thomas Adès, notorious for its darkly comic portrayal of the scandal-ridden Duchess of Argyll and its explicit, avant-garde treatment of sex and power.

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Powder Her Face canonical 1

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf chamber opera ⓘ
contemporary opera ⓘ
basedOn life of the Duchess of Argyll ⓘ
centralCharacter Duchess of Argyll ⓘ
character The Duchess ⓘ
The Electrician ⓘ
The Maid ⓘ
The Waiter ⓘ
commissionedBy Almeida Opera ⓘ
Cheltenham Festival ⓘ
composer Thomas Adès ⓘ
conductorAtPremiere Thomas Adès ⓘ
controversy censorship and broadcast restrictions due to explicit content ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom ⓘ
duration approximately 2 hours ⓘ
firstPerformanceType concert staging ⓘ
firstProductionCompany Almeida Opera ⓘ
firstUSProductionYear 1998 ⓘ
genre dark comedy ⓘ
opera ⓘ
hasRecording 1998 EMI recording conducted by Thomas Adès ⓘ
language English ⓘ
librettist Philip Hensher ⓘ
notableFor avant-garde musical style ⓘ
explicit sexual content ⓘ
portrayal of sex and power ⓘ
numberOfActs 2 ⓘ
orchestrationType chamber ensemble ⓘ
premiereCity Cheltenham ⓘ
premiereCountry United Kingdom ⓘ
premiereDate 1995-06-01 ⓘ
premierePlace Cheltenham Festival ⓘ
publisher Faber Music ⓘ
setting a luxury hotel suite ⓘ
structure two-act opera ⓘ
style eclectic ⓘ
postmodern ⓘ
subject Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll ⓘ
subsequentPerformanceType fully staged production ⓘ
theme class and privilege ⓘ
power dynamics ⓘ
public humiliation ⓘ
sexual scandal ⓘ
timeSetting from the 1930s to the 1990s ⓘ
uses cabaret elements ⓘ
pastiches of popular music ⓘ
tango rhythms ⓘ
vocalForces small cast of singers ⓘ

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Thomas Adès → notableWork → Powder Her Face ⓘ