Ian McEwan's first libretto

In The Times, Robert Sandall talks novelist Ian McEwan about writing his first libretto for an opera, For You, with music by Michael Berkeley.

Do you go to the opera much?

I go infrequently. When opera works, it blows me away, but most of the time I find it doesn’t.

Why not?

Because of the terrible plots. The biggest problem with opera, for me, is the disjunction between the sublime quality of the music and the silliness, often, of the drama. When I was thinking about writing this libretto, I was clear that I wanted psychological realism. I also knew what I didn’t want: no supernatural elements, no fairy tales, no folk tales. No Magic Flute.

The Music Theatre Wales production of For You is currently on tour.