DESCRIPTION:
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In this scene - Dickens reads his first draft of Christmas Carol. The Characters all appear and sing their eponymous parts. At the end, the scene dissolves back to the office with his assistants open-mouthed in admiration.

A Private Passion is a versatile small-scale opera for about 20 singers, consisting of 3 principals with 16 minor principals who also form a semi-chorus.
The story concerns the relationship between Charles Dickens and Ellen Ternan and the collapse of his 22 year marriage to Catherine.
Act One takes place in 1857/8. In 9 scenes it delineates Dickens’ family relationships and the public success which his attraction to Ellen threatens. She herself only appears in 2 of the scenes, but the act finishes with Dickens’ brutally ending marriage.
Act Two takes place 8-12 years later and features 4 imagined scenes during Dickens' liaison with Ellen.

The words and music were composed by Michael Maxwell Steer in 2002-3. These four scenes, the only ones involving only the two principals, were recorded in 9/03.