--- product_id: 22206857 title: "Written on Skin" price: "R$438" currency: BRL in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.com.br/products/22206857-written-on-skin store_origin: BR region: Brazil --- # Written on Skin **Price:** R$438 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Written on Skin - **How much does it cost?** R$438 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.br](https://www.desertcart.com.br/products/22206857-written-on-skin) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Product Description With a score by George Benjamin and text by Martin Crimp, Written on Skin has been hailed as ‘magic and irresistible … the best opera written over the last twenty years’ (Le Monde). A cruel and powerful Protector (Christopher Purves) asks a mysterious Boy (Bejun Mehta) to create an illuminated book in honour of his wealth and family. He invites the Boy into his home, little realizing that this will lead to a journey of startling, joyful and ultimately tragic self-discovery for the Protector's oppressed and much younger wife Agnès (Barbara Hannigan). Acclaimed director Katie Mitchell brings this dark and intense story to life in an inventive production that skilfully combines elements of the past and present, with Benjamin himself conducting. Filmed in High Definition 25p and recorded in true Surround Sound.Press Reviews"Magic and irresistible ... It is the best opera written over the last twenty years." (Le Monde) "Written on Skin is close to being a masterpiece." (Le Figaro)"Would the opera work so well without a Protector as adept at portraying cruel, complex characters as baritone Christopher Purves, or a soprano combining fierce presence with such pure tone as Barbara Hannigan, or a countertenor Boy sounding as beguiling and other-worldly as Bejun Mehta? Perhaps not quite. But it would still be a musical masterpiece." (The Guardian)"This is music of genius. It also draws superb performances from a flawless cast: Christopher Purves (the castellan), Barbara Hannigan (his wife), Bejun Mehta (the artist), and Allan Clayton and Victoria Simmonds as the choric angels, who seem to instigate as well as observe the action. Benjamin's conducting of his own music was literally authoritative, and the orchestral playing was ravishing. After a long run of mediocrity at the Royal Opera, what joy to encounter something as enthralling and enchanting as this. " (The Daily Telegraph)Awards Gramophone Award {2014} (Contemporary) International Opera Award (UK) {2013} – World premiere Opernwelt – Premiere of the Year {2013} – Best new work Grand Prix Du Syndicat de la critique {2013} – Opera Opéra Magazine – La Diamant d’opera {2013} – Opera BASCA Award {2013} – Stage Category New York Times –‘Favorite Classical record of the Year’ 2013 South Bank Sky Arts Award {2014} – Opera Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik {2014} - DVD Choc de Classica {2014} - DVD Royal Philharmonic Society’s Large-Scale Composition {2014} – OperaCastCHRISTOPHER PURVES (The Protector)BARBARA HANNIGAN (Agnès)BEJUN MEHTA (Angel 1/ The Boy)VICTORIA SIMMONDS (Angel 2/ Marie)ALLAN CLAYTON (Angel 3/ John)DAVID ALEXANDER, LAURA HARLING, PETER HOBDAY, SARAH NORTHGRAVES (Angel Archivists)Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House; George BenjaminProductionCompany: The Royal OperaStage Director: Katie MitchellTelevision Director: Margaret WilliamsDisc InformationCatalogue Number: OA1125DDate of Performance: 2013Running Time: 89 minutesAspect Ratio: 16:9 AnamorphicSubtitles: EN, FR, DE, JPLabel: Opus Arte Review This is essential viewing and listening for anyone interested in opera, or music more generally, today. --Boston Globe, David WeiningerBenjamin's chromatic vocal writing is consistently mellifluous and his sensitive and radiant orchestration never fails to impress. Mehta's eerie male soprano perfectly conveys his otherworldly, angelic character, Purves' insightful interpretation lends an element of humanity to his nefarious character and Hannigan's moving portrayal of a woman coming to self-awareness is both vocally gorgeous and dramatically incisive. --The WholeNote, Daniel FoleyIn an age when contemporary British operas too often resort to shock-and-schlock tactics it is a pleasure to encounter such a concise and sophisticated jewel of an opera. --The WholenoteThe latest opera from British composer George Benjamin, "Written on Skin," effectively exhibits the potential of 21st century opera, and how new entries in this art form can still engage a modern audience. --Steven Bergman, Edge Media NetworkThe greatest [opera] of the past twenty years [...] Benjamin works with fastidious nuance, layering transparent landscapes that unfold in somber radiance. --Opera News, May 20142014 Gramophone Magazine Award Winner - Contemporary --Gramophone MagazineWith a live recording already available, why take up more shelf space with the DVD? Even though George Benjamin's first full-length opera is so psychologically laden that staging might seem superfluous, Katie Mitchell's original production matches visual layers to musical ones - with subtitles to catch every turn in Martin Crimp's text. --Gramophone, December 2014 Review: A NEW OF OPERA FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM - With libretto by playwright Martin Crimp ( 1956- ), “Written on Skin” is a new opera by George Benjamin (1960 - ), a British composer, writer, conductor, pianist and music teacher, who has recently become incredibly popular, in part due to the success of the opera itself. According to an article written by Eric Dahan for French daily newspaper Libération, June 19 2014 issue, “Since the wild success of “Written on Skin“, George Benjamin has become the "Spielberg of Opera" …….“Benjamin is now the "most bankable of opera composers." Similar comments on the opera - by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, for the New York Times, August 13 2013 issue - are: “Within minutes of the premiere of George Benjamin’s “Written on Skin“, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival last summer, opera houses around the world jostled for production rights to this darkly erotic opera ………. In the past year, it has been staged in London, Amsterdam, Toulouse, Munich and Vienna, each time bringing audiences to their feet and leaving critics to pull out superlatives they hadn’t thought they’d ever use in the context of new opera“. More comparably positive reviews on George Benjamin and his latest opera are available on the internet. After reading the above and similar responses to the opera and its authors, can anyone possibly give Written on Skin anything less than five stars? So, having concluded that - based on the general opinion - this new composition is a masterpiece as well as a milestone in the opera world, let us learn more about it. Written on Skin is an opera in three parts - yes, it is parts not acts, as librettist Martin Crimps assures us. It premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2012, and was then shown at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, during March 2013. George Benjamin conducted both performances. The opera had its US premiere in August at the 2013 Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, where it was also conducted by the composer. The opera in the DVD is the one presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden during March 2013. It lasts approximately 90 minutes. It is sang in English, with English, French, German and Japanese subtitles. Like many 20th- 21st century operas - most prominent among them, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and Berg's Wozzeck - Written on Skin is not the traditional collection of arias and recitatifs of the 18th and 19th century operas. It has been described by music reviewer and commentator, Lloyd Schwartz as “a setting for a play divided into short scenes, with some of the best music coming between the scenes“. The staging is unusual, and consists of four tableaus appearing simultaneously on the stage/TV screen - a long one above, two below, and a staircase on the right side. Two of the tableaus show 21st century environments, the third, a medieval background. The setting shifts from one tableau to another, the effect being accomplished by highlighting the tableau in question. The shifting results in an interesting overlapping of time, from 13th century to our own times. Costumes are both medieval and 21st century, probably more often 21st century, than medieval. The libretto is based on the legend of the troubadour Guillaume de Cabestany, a legend that was described in various literary works of the time, including The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). The place is Provence. The time - as we just noted - shifts from our modern era to the 13th century, when books were rare because individually hand prepared, and precious because written and illuminated on animal skins (hence the title of the opera). Three angels - some narrators and characters at the same time - open the show by singing about how our modern civilization, with its parking lots and international airports, has been built on top of the "heaped-up dead” of the past. The actual story is not for the faint of heart. If you found disturbing the last scene from Wozzeck - where the little boy hears about the recently found body of a woman on the outskirts of town, and all alone heads for the site, without realizing that such a woman is his own mother - this opera is not for you. Neither it is, if you found in bad taste the scene from Richard Strauss’ Salomé, where the heroine sings passionate love words to the severed bleeding head of St. John the Baptist. You may not appreciate the same opera, if you think that Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District has too much explicit sex. Written on Skin is more graphic and more disconcerting than any of the above, possibly even than all of the above put together. Particularly so, because it is narrated by angels who - while comment throughout on the action from a modern-day perspective - do recognize the cruelty in human nature, yet realize that such cruelty cannot be controlled. This is what happens. A wealthy man, known as “The Protector” - and described by the angels as “addicted to purity and violence” - pays a character known as “The Boy” (in reality, one of the angels who assumes human form for the story) to create an illuminated manuscript which will flatter himself and his family and possibly make them immortal. The Protector treats his wife Agnès poorly, as he considers her just another of his possessions. Unhappy, Agnès turns her attention to The Boy. The two have an affair which is very short lived because The Protector - who apparently is also in love and having a liaison with The Boy (based on the way he kisses him on stage, possibly in real life as well) - soon becomes aware of it. He is wildly jealous: after all, not only has his own wife been unfaithful, so has his young male lover. He takes revenge on the two of them by murdering The Boy; by then pulling out his heart, cooking it and offering it to his unaware wife who actually finds the dish pleasant to the taste, “salt and sweet“, as she describes it………... . Such is the story so far, without any exaggerations, all details being accurately acted out on stage. Agnès is not horrified, after her husband reveals the nature of her dinner, rather she seems mildly content, as she believes that she has swallowed the heart of the man she loved and that consequently she has made him part of herself. Like in a Greek tragedy, Agnès dies in the end - by suicide, after jumping out of the balcony, and in order to avoid being killed by her husband….., “The Protector“. Her falling body appears suspended on-stage against the night sky, while three painted angels look towards the spectators. The opera ends. If we believe the unanimously positive reviews by the press both in Europe and the United States, we can only conclude that this is a work after which opera will never be the same. But then again, it may be just a question of taste. Personally, rather than moving with the times, in this particular case, I would prefer to remain behind and watch more traditional 18th and 19th century works, such as Don Giovanni or the Magic Flute; L’Elisir d’Amore; La Traviata or Aida; La Boheme. Perhaps, just perhaps, even 20th century operas such as Peter Grimes and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Review: A Mocern Opera worth considering - This Opera, composed by George Benjamin is one of a kind, incredibly well written and performed by singers who inhabit their rolls completely. Benjamin took years to write this opera and the time has served him well. So many contemporary operas seem to be so filled with sound that there is no time for silence. Benjamin has a healthy respect for beautiful melodic lines with plenty of air between voice and instruments yet he can hit hard with a crunch of brass and percussion and create a violence unique and frightening. The libretto jumps back and forth from Medieval times to the 21sst C, without seeming like a gimmick. I love everything about this piece. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B00GJ6KA9K | | Actors | Allan Clayton, Barbara Hannigan, Bejun Mehta, Christopher Purves, Victoria Simmonds | | Aspect Ratio | 16:9 | | Best Sellers Rank | #230,615 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) #3,285 in Performing Arts (Movies & TV) #11,232 in Special Interests (Movies & TV) | | Customer Reviews | 3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars (45) | | Director | Margaret Williams | | Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No | | Media Format | Classical, Multiple Formats, NTSC | | Number of discs | 1 | | Producers | Margaret Williams | | Product Dimensions | 0.56 x 7.47 x 5.34 inches; 4.32 ounces | | Release date | January 28, 2014 | | Run time | 1 hour and 38 minutes | | Studio | Opus Arte | | Subtitles: | English, French, German, Japanese | ## Product Details - **Format:** Classical, Multiple Formats, NTSC - **Genre:** Classical / Symphonies, Music Video & Concerts - **Language:** English - **Runtime:** 1 hour and 38 minutes ## Images ![Written on Skin - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/6124s9TWP8L.jpg) ![Written on Skin - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41XW0l9An6L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A NEW OF OPERA FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM *by C***E on August 2, 2014* With libretto by playwright Martin Crimp ( 1956- ), “Written on Skin” is a new opera by George Benjamin (1960 - ), a British composer, writer, conductor, pianist and music teacher, who has recently become incredibly popular, in part due to the success of the opera itself. According to an article written by Eric Dahan for French daily newspaper Libération, June 19 2014 issue, “Since the wild success of “Written on Skin“, George Benjamin has become the "Spielberg of Opera" …….“Benjamin is now the "most bankable of opera composers." Similar comments on the opera - by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, for the New York Times, August 13 2013 issue - are: “Within minutes of the premiere of George Benjamin’s “Written on Skin“, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival last summer, opera houses around the world jostled for production rights to this darkly erotic opera ………. In the past year, it has been staged in London, Amsterdam, Toulouse, Munich and Vienna, each time bringing audiences to their feet and leaving critics to pull out superlatives they hadn’t thought they’d ever use in the context of new opera“. More comparably positive reviews on George Benjamin and his latest opera are available on the internet. After reading the above and similar responses to the opera and its authors, can anyone possibly give Written on Skin anything less than five stars? So, having concluded that - based on the general opinion - this new composition is a masterpiece as well as a milestone in the opera world, let us learn more about it. Written on Skin is an opera in three parts - yes, it is parts not acts, as librettist Martin Crimps assures us. It premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2012, and was then shown at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, during March 2013. George Benjamin conducted both performances. The opera had its US premiere in August at the 2013 Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, where it was also conducted by the composer. The opera in the DVD is the one presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden during March 2013. It lasts approximately 90 minutes. It is sang in English, with English, French, German and Japanese subtitles. Like many 20th- 21st century operas - most prominent among them, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and Berg's Wozzeck - Written on Skin is not the traditional collection of arias and recitatifs of the 18th and 19th century operas. It has been described by music reviewer and commentator, Lloyd Schwartz as “a setting for a play divided into short scenes, with some of the best music coming between the scenes“. The staging is unusual, and consists of four tableaus appearing simultaneously on the stage/TV screen - a long one above, two below, and a staircase on the right side. Two of the tableaus show 21st century environments, the third, a medieval background. The setting shifts from one tableau to another, the effect being accomplished by highlighting the tableau in question. The shifting results in an interesting overlapping of time, from 13th century to our own times. Costumes are both medieval and 21st century, probably more often 21st century, than medieval. The libretto is based on the legend of the troubadour Guillaume de Cabestany, a legend that was described in various literary works of the time, including The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). The place is Provence. The time - as we just noted - shifts from our modern era to the 13th century, when books were rare because individually hand prepared, and precious because written and illuminated on animal skins (hence the title of the opera). Three angels - some narrators and characters at the same time - open the show by singing about how our modern civilization, with its parking lots and international airports, has been built on top of the "heaped-up dead” of the past. The actual story is not for the faint of heart. If you found disturbing the last scene from Wozzeck - where the little boy hears about the recently found body of a woman on the outskirts of town, and all alone heads for the site, without realizing that such a woman is his own mother - this opera is not for you. Neither it is, if you found in bad taste the scene from Richard Strauss’ Salomé, where the heroine sings passionate love words to the severed bleeding head of St. John the Baptist. You may not appreciate the same opera, if you think that Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District has too much explicit sex. Written on Skin is more graphic and more disconcerting than any of the above, possibly even than all of the above put together. Particularly so, because it is narrated by angels who - while comment throughout on the action from a modern-day perspective - do recognize the cruelty in human nature, yet realize that such cruelty cannot be controlled. This is what happens. A wealthy man, known as “The Protector” - and described by the angels as “addicted to purity and violence” - pays a character known as “The Boy” (in reality, one of the angels who assumes human form for the story) to create an illuminated manuscript which will flatter himself and his family and possibly make them immortal. The Protector treats his wife Agnès poorly, as he considers her just another of his possessions. Unhappy, Agnès turns her attention to The Boy. The two have an affair which is very short lived because The Protector - who apparently is also in love and having a liaison with The Boy (based on the way he kisses him on stage, possibly in real life as well) - soon becomes aware of it. He is wildly jealous: after all, not only has his own wife been unfaithful, so has his young male lover. He takes revenge on the two of them by murdering The Boy; by then pulling out his heart, cooking it and offering it to his unaware wife who actually finds the dish pleasant to the taste, “salt and sweet“, as she describes it………... . Such is the story so far, without any exaggerations, all details being accurately acted out on stage. Agnès is not horrified, after her husband reveals the nature of her dinner, rather she seems mildly content, as she believes that she has swallowed the heart of the man she loved and that consequently she has made him part of herself. Like in a Greek tragedy, Agnès dies in the end - by suicide, after jumping out of the balcony, and in order to avoid being killed by her husband….., “The Protector“. Her falling body appears suspended on-stage against the night sky, while three painted angels look towards the spectators. The opera ends. If we believe the unanimously positive reviews by the press both in Europe and the United States, we can only conclude that this is a work after which opera will never be the same. But then again, it may be just a question of taste. Personally, rather than moving with the times, in this particular case, I would prefer to remain behind and watch more traditional 18th and 19th century works, such as Don Giovanni or the Magic Flute; L’Elisir d’Amore; La Traviata or Aida; La Boheme. Perhaps, just perhaps, even 20th century operas such as Peter Grimes and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Mocern Opera worth considering *by L***R on February 20, 2016* This Opera, composed by George Benjamin is one of a kind, incredibly well written and performed by singers who inhabit their rolls completely. Benjamin took years to write this opera and the time has served him well. So many contemporary operas seem to be so filled with sound that there is no time for silence. Benjamin has a healthy respect for beautiful melodic lines with plenty of air between voice and instruments yet he can hit hard with a crunch of brass and percussion and create a violence unique and frightening. The libretto jumps back and forth from Medieval times to the 21sst C, without seeming like a gimmick. I love everything about this piece. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ a worthwhile opera *by E***N on September 14, 2015* a fascinating modern opera - not melodious but very listenable --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.br/products/22206857-written-on-skin](https://www.desertcart.com.br/products/22206857-written-on-skin) --- *Product available on Desertcart Brazil* *Store origin: BR* *Last updated: 2026-04-29*