Greek (opera)

The play and the opera are a re-telling of Sophocles's Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex with the setting changed to the East End of London in the 1980s.

The commission was suggested by the Biennale's founder, German composer Hans Werner Henze, who had taught Turnage at the Tanglewood Music Center and admired his work.

[3] In 1990 the BBC filmed a television version of Greek at the Liverpool Warehouse with the original world premiere cast and the Almeida Ensemble.

The production, directed by Peter Maniura and Jonathan Moore and conducted by Richard Bernas, won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Best Broadcast (Radio or Television).

Further national premieres followed in the second half of the 1990s: Netherlands (Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam, 3 January 1996); Austria (Odeon, Vienna, 20 October 1996); and the United States (Aspen Music Festival, 23 July 1998.