So why write an opera about some foreigners we locked up a long time ago? Because we were extraordinarily nice to them! So much so that when they went home two years later, their leading officer made a speech to the people of Lewes from the top of a fire truck, thanking them for their incredible kindness. So much so that when they marched out of town, the Lewes Saxon Band serenaded them, alongside a cheering crowd of Lewesians. So much so that during their stay, when one of their officers was assaulted in the street by a drunken reveller, at the trial, the people of Lewes came out in defence of the prisoner, not the local drunk. So much so, that when Stephen Plaice was in Finland last year, working on a project for Glyndebourne, and he mentioned the theme of the new opera he was writing, the people in the office burst into the strains of a Finnish song - as familiar to Finns as Greensleeves is to Brits - in which the third verse mentions Lewes! (Song: Oolannin sota; Lewes mention: ‘Levesin kaupunkiin arestiin’ - I’m not making this up!) To cut a long journey short, the Embassy of Finland and the Finnish Chamber Opera have become involved, and in July 2007, the premiere of The Finnish Prisoners will take place in Lewes, with ten Finnish singers coming to take up the roles of their ancestral visitors.