Francesca Simon reunited with Gavin Higgins for The Faerie Bride CD release

A recording of the libretto Gavin Higgins created with Francesca Simon, called The Faerie Bride, will be released on CD.

The production, which is a Horn Corncerto for horn and orchestra, features Ben Goldscheider (horn), the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and Jaime Martin as conductor.

In telling the tale of The Faerie Bride, Gavin reunited with the writer Francesca Simon. The two had collaborated on the highly successful opera The Monstrous Child. Composer and librettist have created an oratorio for orchestra plus Baritone, who plays The Man, Mezzo Soprano who plays The Woman and a small Chorus who represent a bigoted mob who only see bad in the stranger in their midst.

The CD will be released on 7th February 2025 by Nimbus Records.

Fabulous Francesca Facts

"Families are great sources of comedy because they are about people trapped together. Only the parents chose to be there and the rest of you are stuck with these people that you might not necessarily like"

"Nobody feels emotions like children and with Henry, the war is constant and total. Anyone who has lived in a family has these shared experiences - the car journey from hell, nits or vomiting"

"I’ve never met a child who doesn’t love hearing stories. It’s a good way of introducing them to books and it’s a great way of getting them to understand stories that they might not be able to read themselves"

"We all love stories, it all helps making sense of the world"

"Horrid Henry speaks to the impish, rebellious child in all of us"

"My first book was called Papa Forgot and was published in 1993"

"I’ve written over fifty books"

"My birthday is 23rd February"

"I’m a bit scared of the dark"

"My hobbies are reading, cooking and going to the theatre"

"My favourite author is Anthony Trollope"

"My most disliked food is beetroot"

"My favourite colour is aquamarine"

"My favourite food is scallops"