A 12-note opera – for children? Well, yes, and rather good it is, too! Charles Wuorinen, who died in March 2020, was a committed adherent to serialism. For him, it was not a compositional straitjacket for his invention but provided, rather, a structure to let his invention soar aloft – and it does indeed soar in this fantastical treatment (the verse libretto is by James Fenton) of Salman Rushdie’s extraordinary and multi-layered novel. The plot is a complex of allegory-within-allegory, where the lines between notional and representational realities are blurred and events may not be all that they seem but also aspects of a wider malaise. Most vitally, this is a tale for children with a clear message for adults.

The key event at the opening is the abduction of Soraya, mother to the eponymous hero and wife of the great storyteller, Rashid, the self-styled ‘Shah of Blah’ and ‘Guru of the Gulf of Gumption’. Soraya’s theft deprives Rashid of his ability to tell stories, an important element of life in the Sad City of Alifbay and something that local villain-of-the-piece, Khattam-Shud, wishes to suppress. Khattam-Shud’s element is Silence, so the very notion of storytelling, words, still more their source in the Sea of Stories, is anathema to him. As he cannot control it, his wish is to repress and/or poison it. With Rashid emasculated like the Fisher King, it is his son Haroun who journeys through a phantasmagorical landscape like a Grail Knight (even to the South Pole and the City of Gup), encountering a weird and wonderful array of villains, a water genie, a king and – ultimately – Khattam-Shud himself to recover his mother, rescuing the wonderfully named Princess Batcheat along the way. In doing so, he revitalises his father, who shuts Khattam-Shud (in reality a cipher for an array of crooks) up in a story and so breaks his power.

The cast is immaculate, ranged around the excellent Heather Buck, who sings and acts the role of Haroun with disarming grace and guile, and Stephen Bryant, whose ‘Shah of Blah’ is masterly in its restraint. Of the array of supporting roles, Matthew DiBattista (Snooty Buttoo) and Neal Ferreira (Sengupta, also doubling as Khattam-Shud) are suitably sleazy and villainous, Aaron Engebreth is a powerful General Kitab, while Michelle Trainor steals the show as Princess Batcheat. The others weave in and out of view as Haroun homes in on his target, backed by the BMOP Chorus and the wonderful Boston Modern Orchestra Project itself. The recording is first-rate, with the detail of Wuorinen’s richly coruscating scoring audible at all times.

How does this work, then, as a children’s opera? I have not yet tried this excellent audio recording out on my 12-year-old daughter, but I can well imagine a staged version making a huge impression. The 12-note musical language is used by Wuorinen with such marvellous clarity that all becomes completely intelligible. In this recording, every word can be heard, a tribute to the musicality of each singer (soloist or chorus member) and Gil Rose’s sensitive and intelligent direction. Warmly recommended.