Henze, H: The English Cat

The music for “The English Cat” was composed between 1978 and 1982. The opera was first performed in a production by the composer in May 1983 at the Schwetzingen Music festival and since them there have been productions in many places, including Paris, New York, Bologna, Hannover, Frankfurt, Edinburgh, Santa Fe, Lucerne, and Montepulciano. The libretto consists of a freely adapted version of a short story (in letter form) by Honoré de Balzac, the original title of which is “peines de coeur d’une chatte anglaise”. The verse libretto was written by the English dramatist Edward Bond.