Cyril and Libbye Hellier returned to the stage for the title roles of Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel", for The New Opera Theatre, New Orleans. In the 1988-89 season, they alternated as Bastienne in the child Mozart's "Bastien und Bastienne" for the same ensemble. In the final season of The New Opera Theatre, they appeared in a Benefit Concert also featuring Natalia Rom. In April 1991, the Helliers were soloists in Part III of Handel's "Messiah" (in the Foundling Hospital Anthem version), at St Francis de Sales Cathedral, Houma. In October 1992, the sopranos made their New York debuts, as Kindred (Cyril) and Cousin (Libbye)
The Corridor (opera) The Corridor (opera) The Corridor is a chamber opera composed by Harrison Birtwistle to an English language libretto by David Harsent. It premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival on 12 June 2009. The title refers to the corridor through which Orpheus and Eurydice passed as he was leading her from the underworld. Various aspects of the myth of Orpheus have been a recurring theme in Birtwistle's work, first explored in his three-act opera "The Mask of Orpheus" (1986) and later incorporated into his two-act opera "The Second Mrs Kong" (1994). Between 2003 and 2004, he also composed "The Orpheus Elegies", a