BBC SSO 2026/27: Birtwistle's The Second Mrs Kong

A free semi-staged concert performance of Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Second Mrs Kong by the BBC SSO under Martyn Brabbins.

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performs Harrison Birtwistle's The Second Mrs Kong in a semi-staged concert version, conducted by Martyn Brabbins and directed by Victoria Newlyn. The two-act opera, with a libretto by Russell Hoban, is set in a World of Shadows where figures including Vermeer, Orpheus and a movie mogul grapple with the death of King Kong, a creature who never lived. Rarely performed since its 1994 premiere, the 2hr 30min performance (with 20-minute interval) features an all-star cast including Sir John Tomlinson, Roderick Williams and Anna Dennis, with the BBC Singers as The Dead.