Watch John Lennon, the opera. This is no Yoko

On December 8, 1980, a member of The Beatles was gunned down at the entrance to his residence in New York. What turned a besotted fan into the killer of the man he adored? That’s tonight’s opera of the week.

The composer is Ivo Josipović, former President of Croatia, no less. He has written over 50 works for chamber and symphony orchestra as well as serving as director of the contemporary music festival, Music Biennale Zagreb.

The fate of John Lennon has long intrigued the composer and with librettist Marina Biti, the pair have created an opera built around the last days of the Beatle, the people who were important to him and a psychological profile of his murderer. For the world premiere at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the conductor is Ivan Josip Skender and director Marina Pejnović.  Lennon is sung by Domagoj Dorotić,   Yoko Ono by Dubravka Šeparović Mušović and Chapman by Ozren Bilušić.  This streaming is brought to our readers by Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision.

The opera is available on Friday 26 May 2023 at 1900 CET / 1800 London/  1300 NY

Subtitles in Croatian and English