The Secret of the Black Spider – Leeds Grand Theatre
Opera North opened its 2025–26 season with something quietly radical: the UK premiere of the extended Hamburg version of Dame Judith Weir’s The Secret of the Black Spider, performed not by the mainstage company but by the Opera North Youth Company—soloists, chorus, and orchestra. It was the first time an opera by a female composer had featured on the company’s main stage, and the first time its young performers had opened the season both on stage and in the pit. With the composer in attendance and a warm response from a mixed-age audience, it was a landmark evening in every sense.
The opera weaves together a 19th-century gothic novella with the real-life story of a supposed curse that followed the 1980s opening of a royal tomb in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków. Weir’s score and libretto blend ...
