The Royal Hunt Of The Sun

Iain Hamilton is emerging as one of the most important operatic composers of our time. The Royal Hunt Of The Sun, his first opera, is a stunning and powerful drama of the Spanish conquest of Peru. The score is filled with vivid sound-painting, spectacular set-pieces and touching lyrical moments, all handled with a brilliant sense of timing. The opera's premiere performance in 1977 by the English National Opera was so successful that the work is being revived for the 1978-79 season - a rare honor for a contemporary opera.