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Already this summer Grange Park Opera has delved into the murky recesses of Russian history by staging Rimsky-Korsakov’s Ivan the Terrible. Perhaps its new opera should have been called Putin the Terrible. Russia’s president isn’t actually named in the list of characters for The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko, but there can be little doubt that he’s the villain of the piece. Either way, I don’t think Bolshoi Opera will be staging the work any time soon.
As its title suggests, the two-act opera reflects on the bravery and horrific poisoning — in London in 2006 — of Litvinenko, a Russian secret service officer turned dissident whistleblower. A book co-written by his widow, Marina, provided the starting point for the opera’s