1984 (opera)

2005 opera by Lorin Maazel

1984 is an opera by the American conductor and composer Lorin Maazel, with a libretto by J. D. McClatchy and Thomas Meehan. The opera is based on George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty Four. It premiered on 3 May 2005 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in a production directed by Robert Lepage.

1984 was the first opera composed by Maazel, following a conducting career that spanned more than 50 years; he was 75 years old when his work had its premiere. The opera was originally commissioned by August Everding, the director of the Bavarian State Opera, and Maazel later admitted surprise at the offer. "I'd never thought of writing an opera, and it took years to convince me," he stated in an interview prior to the premiere. After Everding died, it appeared the work might not proceed, but Maazel got it picked up by Covent Garden and the Tokyo Opera. This was to be a joint endeavour, but Tokyo ultimately backed out, leaving it in limbo again. Maazel then stepped in and paid about £400,000 to finance the project through a company he formed for the purpose, Big Brother Productions. By picking up nearly half the costs, he allowed the Royal Opera House to spend what it would for a typical revival from the standard repertoire, rather than a more expensive new production. This saved the opera from oblivion, but also led to charges that the Royal Opera House was spending taxpayer money to support a vanity project.

The British press reviews for the London premiere were negative. Andrew Clements' review in The Guardian berated the effort, declaring that it was "both shocking and outrageous that the Royal Opera, a company of supposed international standards and standing, should be putting on a new opera of such wretchedness and lack of musical worth." Andrew Clark of the Financial Times stated that the "only reason we find this slick perversion of Orwell on the Covent Garden stage is because super rich Maazel bought his way there by stumping up the production costs," while Rupert Christiansen in The Daily Telegraph dismissed it as "operatic fast food." More sympathetic reviews appeared outside of the British media. Newsweek, which noted that, while the "score may occasionally sound more like an overblown film soundtrack than the meaty orchestration of an opera," the production "effectively conjures up the dispiriting emptiness of Orwell's awful vision. The unusual and inspired choice of a baritone, Simon Keenlyside, for the lead role of Winston, lends the work a darker edge." The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia praised Maazel by stating "the maestro knows a lot of music and he shows it, just as he shows his prowess in orchestral and vocal work." The opera's Royal Opera House engagement was sold out, as was a later engagement at La Scala in Milan, Italy. The production was recorded for DVD release. Since February 2009, the DVD is also available for sale in USA.