King Goes Forth to France, The

Opera in three acts by Aulis Sallinen (libretto by P Haavikko), first produced at the Savonlinna Festival, Finland, on 7 July 1984. It was also staged at Santa Fe, USA, in 1986, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, England, in 1987. It tells how a future prince seizes power from the prime minister and, facing a new ice age, leads an army south into France.