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The Doll behind the Curtain is a chamber opera with words by Dominic Power and music by Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour, based on the short story by Iranian writer Sadeq Hedayat (1903-1951).
The opera explores themes of alienation, the mysteries of human sexuality and the dissonance, both musical and cultural, between East and West and tradition and modernity.
It was first performed at King's Place in London, UK at the Tete a Tete Opera Festival on 6 August 2015, with a further performance the following day.
This, Tafreshipour's first opera, was later recorded by the Athelas Sinfonietta conducted by Eirik Haukaas Ødegaard in 2020 when the work was performed at the Royal Danish Opera. The recording was released on the BIS Records label in January 2023.