By Andrew Clark [Financial Times, 5 September 2010]

Life is cruel. Capitalism is corrupt. Ambition is cancerous. But by turning your back on so-called civilisation and cultivating your back yard, you may find salvation. That seems to be the moral of Brett Dean’s new opera, a black comedy about modern life. Based on Peter Carey’s 1981 novel, Bliss tells of an advertising executive, Harry Joy, who has a heart attack that triggers (or symbolises?) a midlife crisis. He sees the hollowness of his success, is dismissed as mad by his peers and survives by dropping out.