San Ignacio de Loyola
El Parnaso Hyspano

The Turn of the Screw
Garsington Opera

They say the devil has all the best tunes; but is that true when it comes to opera? A chance to explore the question presented itself with two contrasting performances pitting good against evil: an eighteenth-century rarity exploring the life and works of St Ignatius of Loyola, and Benjamin Britten’s quietly insidious portrait of malevolence at its purest and most horrifying, The Turn of the Screw.

One of the richest seams of classical rediscoveries in recent decades has been Latin American Baroque music, much of it produced by Catholic missionaries and their communities. But until now we’ve not had the chance to hear one of the movement’s most intriguing pieces: Domenico Zipoli’s “mission opera” San Ignacio de Loyola.