In the last days of Stalin’s reign, a mysterious phone call from the Kremlin launches a desperate and seemingly hopeless search for a missing pianist… British composer Joe Cutler and Swiss librettist Max Hoehn’s new opera explores the meaning of music in a terrifying world. Inspired by the remarkable life of Maria Yudina, the virtuoso pianist and survivor of Stalin’s purges, this dark absurdist thriller is brought to life by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and a fine cast of soloists.

Conceived as an intimate sound experience, the piece is influenced by the radio operas of the past and the recent flourishing of audio drama during the pandemic. Hear the world premiere performance at the CBSO Centre this summer and stay tuned for a future album release by Birmingham Record Company.

Composer Joe Cutler’s music goes inside the mind of the pianist forced to make this emergency recording and aims to capture the tense atmosphere of those years. But Stalin himself plays a major role (sung by the bass Stephen Richardson). His persona has overshadowed several operas of the past, but I believe ours may be the first that actually puts him on stage. We observe his nocturnal habits and dramatize his fatal stroke and state funeral. So although it’s a chamber opera, the subject matter does give it a certain epic quality. - Max Hoehn. 

Max Hoehn, Sonata for Broken Fingers - A Chamber Opera, CBSO Centre, Birmingham B1 2LF. Premiere on 14 July 2024, album release end of 2024.

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Photo Credit: Andrew Fox