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.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Powder Her Face canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

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

Thomas Adès notableWork Powder Her Face