The Enchanted Pig (opera)
The Enchanted Pig is a chamber opera by Jonathan Dove with a libretto by Alasdair Middleton. It draws on fairy tale ideas from The Enchanted Pig and The Brown Bear of Norway. The Young Vic commissioned it, and it premiered in 2006. Hampstead Garden Opera staged it in November 2017.
Eight singers share the roles of chorus and 15 different characters. The music is played by an ensemble of accordion, harp, trombone, cello, double bass, piano and percussion (including anvil and spoons). The score uses leitmotifs, with the pig’s tune being a muted trombone line in B-flat minor.
Plot (in brief): King Hildebrand’s three daughters, while their father is away at war, enter a room that holds a book predicting their futures. The book declares two will marry princes, but Flora will marry a pig. The “pig” is a king under a spell who can become human at night if Flora trusts him. An old woman — really the witch who cast the spell — tricks Flora into acting to break it quickly, allowing the witch to seize the pig to marry her own daughter, Adelaide. With help from the North Wind, the Moon and the Sun, Flora tracks the pig beyond the Milky Way, where he lies drugged by the witch and Adelaide. Flora pretends to spy on him to rescue him, frees him, and they live happily ever after as humans.
Reception: The Guardian’s Michael Billington called it magical and enchanting. The Independent’s Paul Taylor described it as an exhilarating opera for children and discerning adults. A 2009 Linbury Studio Theatre production drew praise for Dove’s vocal writing and his blend of influences from Britten, Sondheim and Bartók. The 2017 Hampstead Garden Opera version was called hugely enjoyable by The Stage.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:18 (CET).