Explore what's on: Thursday 25 June 2009

Michael Berkeley and Ian McEwan's new opera for Music Theatre Wales is a thrilling tale of dark obsession and misplaced passion.

Coming to Manchester after sell-out shows at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio, at the centre of For You are Maria and Charles: she, the deluded Polish housekeeper − all disquieting diligence and dangerous desire; he, the maestro − charismatic, egocentric and completely oblivious to the growing turmoil around him and the utterly operatic chaos about to be unleashed at the very heart of his household.

This fast-moving, darkly comic opera explores many of the themes present in Ian McEwan’s novels – sexual obsession, delusion and the repercussions that can result from misinterpreting the words or actions of a person or situation. And if you add McEwan’s libretto to composer Michael Berkeley’s powerful score, you end up with what The Daily Telegraph described as ‘an absorbing and effective black comedy of rare narrative clarity, accompanied by some skilfully wrought music’.