On 14 May George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s Picture a day like this receives its German premiere at Oper Köln, in the world premiere production from Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma, conducted by Christian Karlsen; the production is in rep until 24 May – details here.
The opera, which lasts just over an hour, is cast in seven scenes. It tells the story of a Woman who has lost her child: if, before nightfall, she meets one truly happy person and cuts a button from their sleeve, her child will live again. In this search she meets a pair of Lovers, a Composer and their Assistant, an Artisan, Collector, and the mysterious Zabelle. Listen to the world premiere recording of Picture a day like this here.
The fourth collaboration from the celebrated partnership of composer and playwright, Picture a day like this was co-commissioned and co-produced by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra Comique, and les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Oper Köln and Teatro di San Carlo.
The cast comprises Adriana Bastidas-Gamboa (Woman), Emily Hindrichs (Zabelle), Elisabeth Reiter (Lover 1/Composer), Cameron Shahbazi (Lover 2/Composer’s Assistant) and John Brancy and George Clark (Artisan/Collector). In March 2026 Reiter made a celebrated role debut in Tatjana Gürbaca’s new production of Benjamin and Crimp’s Written on Skin at Oper Frankfurt, which was conducted by Erik Nielsen – read the reviews here.
Picture a day like this will appear again in Germany in November 2026 as part of musica viva, performed in concert by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Rattle, and the world premiere cast from the Aix Festival. It is billed alongside Benjamin’s Divisions for piano four hands, which he will perform in the first half with Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
The hour-long opera made its Italian debut at the Teatro San Carlo in October 2025, conducted by Corinna Niemayer, who previously gave the UK and Luxembourg premieres of the piece, and its Austrian premiere at the Tiroler Festspiele. The world premiere recording on Nimbus, with the composer conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the original cast from the Aix Festival, received a Gramophone Award in the Contemporary category in 2025.