Sonata for Broken Fingers

A Thriller From Stalinist Moscow

In the last days of Stalin’s reign, a mysterious phone call from the Kremlin launches a desperate search for a missing pianist. Inspired by the life of the pianist Maria Yudina, this new chamber opera explores the role of music in people’s lives during one of the darkest periods of Soviet history.

World Premiere & Recording

A new opera produced in partnership with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Birmingham Record Company and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

The world premiere performance (in concert):

14 July 2024, 16:30

CBSO Centre, Birmingham

The libretto is loosely based on David Zane Mairowitz’s 1989 Radio Play The Stalin Sonata and other historical sources of the time.

The legend surrounding Yudina’s recording for Stalin made an appearance in Armando Iannucci’s film The Death of Stalin.

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