THE Duenna, the most successful British opera ever produced in this country, is to be given its first performances in 230 years at Lighthouse on Friday and Saturday.

English Touring Opera’s new production of The Duenna, an opera by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, has been produced using recently discovered manuscripts – the first time the opera has been performed in its original form in more than 230 years.

For 75 years, The Duenna was the nation’s favourite opera, enjoying unprecedented success and establishing the fortunes of the Covent Garden Theatre, with performances of it quickly appearing all around the English-speaking world.

ETO have commissioned the Southampton-based academic Dr William Davies as editor-in-chief of The Duenna score. Using his expertise in academic research as a historian, he is responsible for the ‘new’ parts of the score – roughly a third of the opera which has not been performed since the late 18th century. This new score uses a combination of old manuscripts which pre-date those used in the final published score (published some 20 years after the first performance), as well as existing manuscripts.

William worked in conjunction with conductor Joseph McHardy, who was able to interpret stylistic elements, ensuring that the score was idiomatically correct.