Libretto by David Franklin adapted from the novel by Mrs. Belloc-Lowndes.

The Lodger was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music and first performed there in July 1960. This revised score, adapted for the BBC, was the opera’s first broadcast.

The Lodger forms part of a select group of British stage works with a horrific or supernatural theme. In Tate’s opera, what she referred to as ‘the sinister element’ is subtle and suggested rather than exaggerated or gratuitous and moments of genuine tension are juxtaposed with other non-sensational elements such as the burgeoning romance between Daisy and Joe and the local colour of the chorus’s music hall number. The composer’s natural gift for extended, lyrical lines and her capacity to build and dispel tension assist in lending distinction to an atmospheric and cogently constructed piece of music theatre.

Artists

Owen Brannigan (George Bunting), Johanna Peters (Emma, his wife), Marion Studholme (Daisy, their daughter), Joseph Ward (The Lodger), Alexander Young (Joe Chandler, a young detective), John Thornley (A paper-boy), Ranken Bushby (A policeman), Trevor Anthony (A cockney), Rachel Paine (A cockney Woman), Geoffrey Clifton (A cockney Man)

BBC Northern Singers & Orchestra, Charles Groves