Patrick Cook

In a society at the height of decadence, where pop stars sing for despots’ birthdays, and even fools can be billionaires, it’s not only the prophets who are kept in cages. There’s one for each of us. In a decaying palace on the edge of the world, everyone is yearning for something to believe in. Sung in English to recapture the shock of Strauss’s scandalous classic, Heartbeat’s intimate new take features a fresh 10-instrument orchestration by Dan Schlosberg of one of Opera’s most extravagant scores.