On Saturday 22 July, Ludovic Morlot will conduct the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in the national premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state at Teatre Grec, Barcelona.

Joined by Orfeo Català, the concert features soprano Claron McFadden as The Wizard, bass-baritone Davóne Tines as The Jailer, tenor Alan Oke as The Governor and baritone Jarrett Ott as The Prisoner.

The work tells the story of a woman who disguises herself as a prison guard to rescue her husband from unjust political imprisonment, with a libretto by Lang that refers self-consciously to Beethoven’s Fidelio.

prisoner of the state is co-commissioned with the New York Philharmonic, the De Doelen Concert Hall, the Barbican Centre, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Brugge and Malmö Opera.