Marina Litvinenko: how my husband’s assassination became an opera

At first glance, it could be a scene from any classic opera. A grieving lover tearfully lamenting her murdered partner, vowing to bring his killers to justice. But rather than a scene from 19th century Italian literature, what’s taking place on stage has its roots in more recent events: north London in late 2006. The woman in question is very much still alive – and still active too. Marina Litvinenko was in her early 30s, when she moved to London to live in exile with her husband – the man she calls Sasha. How does she describe her husband’s murder? ‘A tragedy,’ she says, putting it rather mildly.

‘It’s got all the ingredients for a good opera – power, politics, love, betrayal and murder,’ says Anthony Bolton, a friend of Marina and the man who first had the idea of putting the Litvinenko story onto the big stage. ‘At its heart is this tragic love story you often find in traditional opera.