Miss Havisham's Fire Saint Louis revived the work in a new version by Argento that shortened the opera by more than an hour and made improvements to the work's dramatic structure. This production received a much more positive response from the press. Miss Havisham's Fire Miss Havisham's Fire is an opera in 2 acts by composer Dominick Argento with an English language libretto by John Olon-Scrymgeour. The work is loosely based on Charles Dickens' 1861 novel "Great Expectations", and centers on an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Aurelia Havisham. Commissioned by the New York City Opera, the work premiered on
Edward Dickens Edward Dickens Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens (13 March 1852 – 23 January 1902) was the youngest son of English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine. He immigrated to Australia at the age of 16, and eventually entered politics, serving as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1889 to 1894. He died in poverty at the age of 49. Nicknamed "Plorn", Dickens was clearly named after Edward Bulwer-Lytton — nowadays much satirised for the famous opening line of his 1830 novel "Paul Clifford", "It was a dark and stormy night" — and educated at Tunbridge Wells