The title of the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s opera Innocence is presumably intended ironically, given that every one of its 13 characters is either racked with guilt or otherwise suffering from the aftershocks of a fatal school shooting 10 years previously.
It’s an extraordinarily powerful and disturbing opera on a timely contemporary theme, first performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2021 and now receiving its keenly awaited UK premiere at the Royal Opera.
