Powder Her Face: An Opera in Two Acts and Right Scenes

Powder Her Face: Libretto

Philip Hensher is a columnist for "The Independent", an arts critic for "The Spectator", and one of "Granta" s Best of Young British Novelists. He has written one collection of short stories, a book on handwriting called "The Missing Ink", and eight novels, including "The Mulberry Empire", "King of the Badgers", and "The Northern Clemency", which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He lives in South London and Geneva.

Born in 1971, Thomas Ades is the foremost composer of his generation. His first opera", Powder Her Face", has been produced all over the world; his 1997 orchestral piece, "Asyla", won the Grawemeyer Award; and his 2004 opera, "The Tempest", which Alex Ross called a masterpiece of airy beauty and eerie power, was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012. Ades was Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival, has conducted orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the London Symphony, and has had festivals worldwide devoted to his music.