‘Dirty Tricks’ (1997) was an opera ‘inspired’ to director Chris Newell by the acrimonious Virgin Atlantic vs British Airways dispute. Stephen Chance wrote a libretto in iambic pentameter throughout, to underline the mock-heroic tone. The only instrument in the opera was an electric bass guitar, which played interludes in the form of Sonnets – a strict musicalisation of the poetic form. ‘7 Dirty Sonnets’ is a recomposition of these items for piano.
