New Sussex Opera

David and Jonathan – an opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Although Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s music may be best known for the opening fanfare and signature tune for all Eurovision broadcasts, he was in fact one of seventeenth-century France’s major composers, celebrated particularly for his Te Deum and Messe de minuit.

NSO is proud to continue its tradition of staging the rarer operatic masterpieces with David and Jonathan, bringing this dark jewel of the Baroque repertoire with its achingly beautiful score - sensuous and dancelike by turns - to audiences in London and the South East for the first time.

A biblical tragedy with a war-torn setting, the opera sees love and duty collide, with David, Jonathan, and Saul caught in a destructive web of desire, politics, and paranoia. With a new English translation by Christopher Cowell, David and Jonathan is staged by the creative team behind NSO's The Silver Bell (“rather sensational” – Opera Now) and The Dragon of Wantley (“jaw-droppingly stupendous” – Christopher Morley).

Alongside a cast of established artists, the production will also feature NSO's Emerging Artists' Scheme. The Bellot Ensemble will be in the pit (currently Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble artists).