Plans to stage Krishna, John Tavener’s epic opera, in 2024, were revealed last week
Amid all the doubt about when performance venues will reopen – optimists hope for June or July, while pessimists expect September – it’s reassuring to have a tantalising fixed date in the future cultural calendar.
Admittedly it’s a while off – June 2024 – when Grange Park Opera in Surrey will present Krishna, the world premiere of an opera by the late Sir John Tavener (1944-2013), based on the life of Krishna, a Hindu deity.
Tavener was the modern British classical composer to have made the most popular impact: first through The Whale, a 1968 piece released on the Beatles’ record label, and then, in 1997, when the ecstatic lament “Song for Athene” was performed at the funeral in Westminster Abbey of Diana, Princess of Wales.