Passengers on an overnight train witnessed the world premiere of an opera inspired by items of luggage.

The world premiere of an opera took place on a sleeper train travelling from Aberdeen to London on Monday. Belongings, a “miniature music theatre piece inspired by items of luggage carried by railway passengers”, marks the first time an opera has been performed on board a Caledonian Sleeper Service.

“This is absolutely fabulous and what a surprise, a great surprise,” a delighted audience member and train passenger told BBC Radio 4 arts correspondent Colin Paterson.

Performed in the lounge of the train by tenor Robert Lewis and cellist Zosia Jagodzinska, the seven-movement, 25-minute opera was composed by Samuel Bordoli with a libretto by Bill Bankes-Jones.

“There’s a stigma and a nervousness and an awkwardness about new opera that I think comes from the industry,” Bankes-Jones, who also directed and commissioned the work, said in BBC Radio 4’s report. “Because what we found is our audiences, when you don’t have to go through a door by a ticket, or admit that you’re going to a new opera, have been absolutely phenomenal. This is in complete contrast to what...