Covent Garden revived the work in 1968, conducted by Colin Davis, with the Ritual Dances choreographed by Gillian Lynne and in 1970, when the production formed the basis of the first commercial recording.
[5] Both trace the path to marriage of one "royal" and one "common" couple: Jenifer and Mark correspond to Pamina and Tamino, the earthy Jack and Bella to Papageno and Papagena.
But the composer's first inspiration for the work was visual: Tippett recalled imagining "a wooded hill-top with a temple, where a warm and soft young man was being rebuffed by a cold and hard young woman to such a degree that the collective, magical archetypes take charge – Jung's anima and animus."
[9] In 1976 Welsh National Opera staged a production[10] designed by Annena Stubbs,[11] which toured in cities including Leeds.
[12] The cast included Felicity Lott as Jenifer[13] and Helen Watts, who had played the role in London in 1968, and recorded it in 1970, as Sosostris.
[14] David Cairns wrote that this production showed the opera "responds very readily to simple, imaginative staging, and that there were never any serious problems [with it] except in our attitude".
[19] A production was filmed for television in 1984, directed by Elijah Moshinsky, later released on VHS, with David Atherton conducting the London Sinfonietta and Philip Langridge and Lucy Shelton in the lead roles.
[27] 2 flutes (both doubling on piccolos), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and two percussionists playing: snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, gong, tubular bells, harp, celesta and strings.
King Fisher thinks Jenifer is with Mark, and he summons Jack to break down the gates after the Ancients refuse to let him inside.
Jenifer says her soul is free of earthly suffering, while Mark claims to have gained new appreciation for the miracle of mortality.
The couple reverse their paths, and Jenifer descends into the hillside while Mark ascends the stairs and disappears.
King Fisher orders the group of young people to fetch Madame Sosostris, his clairvoyant.
She warns him against such inquiries into the dream world, but she reveals Jenifer to be lying in a meadow consorting with a winged lion who has the arms and face of a man.
As the moonlight fades, Mark and Jenifer enter the clearing from opposite sides, dressed for their wedding.