The Mines of Sulphur

The Mines of Sulphur is an opera in three acts by Richard Rodney Bennett, his first full-length opera, composed in 1963. Beverley Cross wrote the libretto, based on his play Scarlet Ribbons, at the suggestion of Colin Graham, who eventually directed the first production in 1965. The opera is dedicated to Benjamin Britten, whose Aldeburgh Festival had originally commissioned the opera.

The Mines of Sulphur was premièred on 24 February 1965 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. It was also broadcast on BBC Radio Network Three on 5 March 1965, and produced in a version for BBC Television on 13 November 1966. It received numerous subsequent performances, including in Cologne, Marseille, Milan, Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York City (at the Juilliard School). Most productions were well received, except for one directed by John Huston at La Scala. After the mid-1970s, however, the work was mostly forgotten, until a popular revival by Glimmerglass Opera in 2004. The Glimmerglass production was then brought to the New York City Opera, and also commercially recorded in 2005. It had 7 performances at Wexford Festival Opera in 2008.