Outside Western opera, there are operas which are just as long, if not longer, than Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” One such example is the masterwork, “The Peony Pavilion,” a tragic comedy in the form of 55 scenes which take more than 22 hours to perform.

With the play written by Tang Xianzu, one of the most important dramatists in Chinese imperial past, the “opera” was written in the “Kunqu” style, the oldest form of Chinese opera which is hallmarked by its unique vocal style, characteristic shuffling movements, and ornate costumes. However, the work is but one of a four-part collection of works which, when put together, is referred to as the “Four Dreams of Yuming Tang,” this work being the first in the series. Although the opera is one full work, most often the individual stories are performed, some of the most famous being No. 10 (A Surprising Dream), No. 28 (Secret Rendezvous), No. 24 (Discovering the Portrait), and No. 36 (Abscondence of the Newlyweds). 

Written in 1598 and taking place in the southern part of the Song Dynasty, the overall story is a complex tale between lady Du Liniang and the scholar Liu Mengmei and the lady’s death and revival at the hands of her love for Mengmei. After a particularly potent dream of Mengmei, Liniang became depressed and killed herself. Her soul, however, was not destined to die and after a series of challenges, the lovers finally are reunited with each other. After contemporary reforms, the work has been condensed into 12 plays in order for modern audiences to experience the entire story.

Despite the opera’s cultural particularity, the opera has found its way to the Western world, the 1998 experiential adaptation by Tan Dun one of the most famous, with more recent performances like Tan Dun’s 2012 performance at the Metropolitan Gardens keeping the legacy of the work alive. The opera has found its way into contemporary popular culture as well, the Shanghai 2010 World Expo featuring a curt version of the opera and bands like Carrchy, a Chinese Indie band, using the opera’s libretto as inspiration. 

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Much like his contemporaries during the 18th century, Leonardo Vinci, a highly important but relatively overlooked Italian composer from the first-half of the 18th century whose 40 operas have gone relatively ignored by contemporary opera and early opera alike, used mythology and extant fiction like everyone else at his time. His final opera, composed the year of his death (1730), “Artasere,” an opera in the quintessential definition of the term, that is a “drama set to music,” has been considered the masterpiece of the Vincian operatic language, and the one which his name is most often invoked. Although he composed earlier operas which were just as effective like “Li zite ‘ngalera” (1722), an opera buffa which has more or less been left alone, and “Partenope” (1725), officially recorded in 2013, it is his final opera which cemented his name in opera history. 

The opera, three acts but with 41 total scenes, revolves around Artaxerxes I, real-life King of the Achaemenid Empire, that is to say everything from the Eastern part of Libya to the Western part of Uzbekistan, and famous son of equally operatic Xerxes I. Due to the ban of female singers at the time, only castrati were able to play the female roles, although performances of the opera during the 18th-century outside of Rome did feature women. Following a complicated love story between Mandane and Arbace, Semira and Artaserses, and Megabise and Semira, the opera finally ends with a joyous celebration of love with the challenges and deceit being forgiven by the King. This same story, written by Pietro Metastasio, a librettist and playwright for far more than just opera including cantatas and numerous other stage works, was used as the basis of other operas as well, famous among them being German composer Johann Hasse’s 1730 version and Czech composer Josef Mysliveček’s 1774 version. 

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The latest opera by one of contemporary opera’s well-beloved figures, Tobias Picker, in only two acts Picker weaves a dynamic story about the real-life figure, Lili Elbe, one of the first but possibly most famous transgender women in history. Having started life as a painter with the given name Einar Wegener, in 1930 following a name change and a transition, Lili Elbe was born, although a career full of modeling and marriage had filled the years prior.

The story of Elbe’s life has preoccupied much of contemporary popular culture, and the opera is but one in an ongoing series of works and legacy remembrances of the figure. Despite the painting career of Elbe having been relatively short, many of their works reflect a high competency in landscape, modernism, Art Nouveau, and still art. 

The opera, which features a libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, was premiered only last year, the brutalist Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland being the location. In the title role, American singer Lucia Lucas sang as Lili, supported by a number of other seminal singers like Sylvia D’Eramo, Brian Michael Moore, Sam Taskinen, and Msimelelo Mbali among others. Lucia first became internationally recognized when she performed in the 2021 Tusla Opera production of “Don Giovanni” in the title role, signaling a transformation in the development of opera productions in America.

Reviews of Picker’s opera were overall exceedingly positive, with many calling the opera highly relevant, with the score being rich and exciting, one calling the opera “worthy of remounting.” As a result, the opera won “Best World Premiere” at the 2023 Oper! Awards.

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The opera’s central plots come from Robert Grave’s eponymous 1934 novel and 1935 novel, and after talking with the Robert Graves Foundation, Escudero began to construct his opera’s trilogy. Musically, the opera combines Ancient modal language with contemporary orchestration and uses “traditional canons, formulas, and structures to approach a new dramatic synergy” as the composer notes. The project itself was focused on exploring and expanding the operatic canon through a renegotiation with the structures of creativity. 

The narrative of the opera follows three chapters and stays true to the story told by Robert Grave’s two novels. Filling out the cast were tenor William Wallace, soprano Conchi Moyano, and actress/singer Estíbaliz Martyn, and featured a cast of 60. Reviews noted the weakeness of the staging and cheapness of the costumes yet the sophistication and grandeur of the music. Nevertheless, the opera went on tour shortly after premiering throughout cities in Mexico and Spain including Mérida, Bilbao, Zaragoza, and Madrid.

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“Sensorium Ex” is an opera by composer Paola Prestini and librettist/poet Brenda Shaughnessy and co-directed by choreographer Jerron Herman. It is a multi-sensory narrative woven together at the intersections of disability and artificial intelligence.

“Sensorium Ex” opera will be premiering at the Common Senses Festival in Omaha for their 2025 season, and is commissioned by the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Beth Morrison Projects, VisionIntoArt, Alphadyne Foundation, Nordisk Kulturfond, and National Sawdust. This opera is developing how to creatively explore and express forms of non-speaking or non-typical patterns of speech and voice in opera. Artificial intelligence plays a role in expanding the possibilities for voice and expression in this dystopian tale.

The Story

The synopsis is about “a mother’s love, science/tech ethics, romance, corporate greed, a mystical escape, and a robot named Sophia coming together in this story about what it means to be human,” said Shaughnessy. “Sensorium Ex” opens doors that have yet to be opened in opera for people with lived experience from the disability community. Prestini is creating a codex for this work that “promotes a society where we actually hear and see each other, and that represents this multiplicity.”

“Sensorium Ex” is scored for six principals, mixed chorus of 12, and chamber orchestra and electronics. It is also in partnership with Luke DuBois and the Tandon School of Engineering at NYU. Workshops have been a major component in further developing the possibilities of AI within this context. This work is a gateway for voices to come forward and express their non-verbal identities through opera as a means to inform us about a broader spectrum of possibilities through its own evolution. “Sensorium Ex” is an invitation to experience the center of humanity as the human voice.

Additional Information

Learn more and listen to excerpts HERE. Read the panel discussion from National Sawdust and the Met Opera’s “Opera Evolved: Genre Fluidity” HERE.

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“Ihitai ‘Avei’a – Star Navigator” is the first opera composed by New Zealand musician and composer Tim Finn, member of the band Split Enz, with supplementary compositional aid from Tom McLeod. The work emerged out of a co-commission partnership between the New Zealand Opera and West Australian Opera. The opera featured the Tahitian language in the form of Tahitian monologues orated by poet and novelist Célestine Hitiura Vaite and is recognized as the first opera to feature both the Tahitian and English language. The plot follows the exploration of Polynesia by British explorer James Cook and Tupaia during the 1769 voyage aboard the HMS Endeavour.

The opera first began with Finn’s fascination with astronomy and maritime navigation. Through a partnership with McLeod, Finn introduced the idea to Vaite following his introduction to her novel, “Breadfruit.” The libretto was a mixture of Vaite’s writings, Finn’s music, and additional text from playwright Gary Henderson. During the process of writing, Finn visited French Polynesia, specifically the island of Raiatea within the group known as the  Society Islands, as well as the marae of Taputapuatea, a communal spot for sacred services on the eastern coast of Raiatea. 

The premiere occurred from March 19 to 20, 2021, and was met with great publicity given its novel nature. It was first staged under the direction of German conductor Uwe Grodd, featuring Amitai Pati as the lead protagonist, member of the New Zealand music group Sol3 Mio. The opera was originally going to be performed again in Perth Concert Hall but, given the pandemic, the performance was rescheduled and then later cancelled.

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“Covid fan tutte“ is a reconceptualization of Mozart’s comic opera organized by the Finnish National Opera in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story is a farcical reimagining of “Così fan tutte,” focusing on the impact of COVID-19 and the ability of opera singers to perform. Most of the opera takes a satirical look at Finnish life and the difficulty in navigating life during the pandemic. The libretto for the opera was written by Minna Lindgren, while the premature idea was begun by conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and soprano Karita Mattila due to a cancellation of FNO’s “Die Walküre” which was to be performed during the 2019-20 season.

The opera was first premiered in Helsinki on August 28, 2020, reaching a sizable audience with 12 performances continuing through October, and later streamed from September 2020 to March 2021 for global audiences. Within the performance’s cast were celebrated Finnish soprano Karita Mattila and Finnish bass Tommi Hakala. A particularly notable element of the opera was its lack of recitative and interspersed arias from other Mozartian operas like “Don Giovanni” and “The Magic Flute.”

Further, the opera’s libretto was created in little over a month. Lindgren used pre-made material interspersed with interlude music and piano accompaniment to fill in the gaps. As Salonen said, “He [Mozart] would probably be very excited about this project” given the opera’s focus on humor.

According to reviewers, the opera succeeded in bringing levity and joy to an otherwise dreary event in human history and reintroduced us to the Mozartian operatic sensibility.

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Based on the seventh book by French novelist and poet Victor Hugo, Russian-Canadian composer Airat Ichmouratov and his opera, “The Man Who Laughs,” is a chilling look at the ways in which our pasts always catch up to us, no matter who we are, noble or otherwise. 

The opera originated from a 2023 Festival Classica commission in Canada. On May 31 of this year, the opera had its formal premiere conducted by Ichmouratov himself. What’s fascinating about Ichmouratov is his experience with opera and composing, having a keen understanding of baroque and classical music while also having a solid knowledge of bel canto marvels. As a composer, he has created a large oeuvre of work already ranging from concertos and overtures to symphonies and quite a good amount of chamber music.

When it comes to opera, “The Man Who Laughs” is Ichmouratov’s first encounter as a composer. Yet, the influences on Ichmouratov speak to the sagacity by which he approaches the genre. Everyone from Mahler, Puccini, Beethoven and Strauss can be found among the opera’s musical influences. The libretto began taking shape two years ago in 2021, with a collaboration between the composer and librettist Bertrand Laverdure. This continued with a potential opera idea based around the figure of French novelist Honoré de Balzac.

The Story and Its Meaning

Opera plots focusing less on history and more on literary adaptations can sometimes be confusing. The meanings get lost on audiences who don’t necessarily understand the broader themes. Hugo’s novel deals with many complex topics interwoven within a sprawling narrative of courtly intrigue. The opera takes this source and deftly boils it down to the core emotional beats, delivering a punchy and cathartic experience even for an audience unfamiliar with Hugo’s works.

In Hugo’s novel, a homeless boy named Gwynplaine has been horribly disfigured, with the lower-half of his face permanently carved into a grotesque smile. One night the young Gwynplaine saves a blind girl called Dea from a snowstorm. The two of them are found by a traveling circus led by a man called Ursus. He takes pity on the two vagabonds exiled from society in different ways and employs them within his carnival.

As the novel progresses, the boy Gwynplaine grows into a young man. He is kind, competent, and handsome in all ways except for his terrible smile: which is all the rest of the world sees and what makes him the star attraction of the circus. Only Dea, who cannot see, recognizes what really matters. The two begin to fall in love. As the circus travels across 17th century England, Gwynplaine meets by chance and becomes obsessed with the Duchess Josiana. She is currently engaged to nobleman David Dirry-Moir, but has become jaded and seeks to venture beyond the walls of court. She is likewise fascinated with—and aroused by—the disfigured Gwynplaine.

The affair between Gwynplaine and Josiana swiftly devolves into something intense and passionate. Meanwhile, courtly machinations and jealous parties—led by Barkilphedro, who resents Josiana’s haughty attitude and wants to ruin the duchess—discover that Gwynplaine is the son of Lord Linnaeus Clancharlie: enemy of King James II.

Many years ago, when Clancharlie died in exile, the king had arranged for his son’s abduction and disfigurement, never suspecting the boy would return as a perpetually-grinning man. Josiana’s tiresome fiancé, David Dirry-Moir, is meanwhile revealed to be Lord Clancharlie’s illegitimate son. Gwynplaine—once called “Fermain” before his abduction and mutilation—is therefore pronounced the rightful inheritor to Clancharlie’s estate, but only on the condition that he marry Josiana as the aristocratic Fermain. Neither he nor Josiana are aware of events. 

A series of tragic circumstances thus occur: enemies of Gwynplaine conspire against him and he is sent to prison. His true love—the innocent Dea—is told he has died. She becomes sick with grief, while she and Ursus are forcibly deported from England. As Josiana visits Gwynplaine in his cell and sets about seducing him, the moment is spoiled by the announcement that Gwynplaine has been a nobleman all-along. She immediately loses any sense of animal attraction towards him, but dutifully agrees to marry him, as it is the correct thing to do.

Gwynplaine becomes Lord Fermain Clancharlie, although his attempts at reforms in the House of Lords are met with laughter and mockery by the peerage. Only the shamed David Dirry-Moir, no longer inheritor to any titles nor fortune, stands up for his new half-brother Gwynplaine. Gwynplaine renounces his titles and searches for Ursus and Dea, wanting to return to the way things were in the circus. He finds them as they are put out to sea. They reunite, only for the terminally ill Dea to die in his arms. The tragic story ends with Gwynplaine throwing himself into the ocean, wracked with despair and grief.   

The opera presents a slightly abridged take, and the audience are taken through the tragic tale at a pleasant clip. Set in England in 1690, poet and showman Ursus meets and employs Gwynplaine. But after a performance, the disfigured man is promptly confronted with his past by the scheming Barkilphedro. He is then seduced by Josiana and returns to the palatial life of his childhood. Yet he swiftly regrets his choice and attempts to return to the world he had enjoyed with his sweetheart Dea, only to discover that his true love has died in his absence. As in the novel, the opera ends with a heartbroken Gwynplaine killing himself, a victim of the cruelties of a shallow world.

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“Irrelohe” is the sixth opera of 20th-century Austrian composer Franz Schreker, begun in 1919 and premiered shortly after in 1924 at the Stadttheater Köln. Coming right after Schreker’s then latest opera, Der Schatzgräber. The opera is a three-act opera about the tribulations of love and sacrifice. This was a poignant theme for him, as during Hitler’s fascist rule he was censored and his music banned from performance under the title of “Entarte Musik” (Degenerate Art). 

Schreker, much like other interim composers between Romanticism and Impressionism/Neo-classicism, involved both experimental and traditional elements in their musical works. For Schreker, he was influenced by Schoenberg’s serialist techniques but also Wagner’s thick and dramatic textures, as well as composers like Paul Hindemith, member of the movement called “New Objectivity.” Thus, his music incorporated emotions and emotional longing into an expressionist and wholly intellectual worldview.

The opera was performed at the famous Bielefeld Opera during its life from 1980 to 1998, and has been brought into the present thanks to the work of Opéra de Lyon, including it in their 2021/2022 season. While not universally known, nor the most well-known by Schreker, that title being given to his opera, “Der ferne Klang“ and his last opera, “Der Schmied von Gent,” the opera has proven to be an interesting shake up for opera houses around the globe.   

The Story

The opera is structured into three acts and takes place in the 18th-century mythical castle of Irrelohe. Named after the Irrenlohe train station in Bavaria, Germany, known as a transport hub for shells during WWII for Hitler’s forces, the opera centers on the relation between Eva and Peter, son of Lola. 

In Act one, Peter and Lola are talking to each other and Peter expresses interest in the castle on the hill, Irrenlohe. The castle, however, is cursed, and any man who lives there is bound to sexually assault a woman. Peter now desires to not only visit the mysterious place but know who his unknown father is. Soon enough, Peter learns that his mother was a woman who was attacked by the Count in the castle and his father is none other than Count Heinrich. He cannot bring himself to tell his love, Eva, this as she’s drawn magically towards the castle.

During Act two, Eva’s father, a Miller, has his mill burned down during the night. This is a yearly occurrence, and it’s found out that Lola’s former husband Christobald travels with his musician friends Fünkchen, Ratzekahl and Strahlbusch and sets fires while they work. Eva is further drawn to the castle but Heinrich, now returned, will not allow himself to become mad and will not touch Eva until she is married to him. 

The final act concludes these threads. On the day of the wedding, Eva tries to convince Peter that splitting is best. The madness is coming over Peter and he begs his mother not to leave him unchained. However, he becomes mad and tries to attack Eva, only to be killed by Christobald who sets the castle on fire. While shocked, Heinrich and Eva look towards their new life together.     

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Using projected visuals and vocal samples, the opera invigorates the standard libretto-composer model that opera tends to use. Focusing on a fight over city space during the 1960s in New York City, the opera attempted to center the discussion around the crisis of housing and ownership of urban spaces. The negotiation of space, personal philosophies, and life itself are pitted against each other.

The Story

Set in the American 1960s in New York City, the opera focuses on the real-life rivalry between urban planner Robert Moses and activist Jane Jacobs, specifically the controversial fight to control Washington Square Park and the neighborhoods surrounding the Lower Manhattan Expressway. However, the story goes beyond the feuding to preserve the urban spaces in New York City and instead focuses on the larger narratives of protest, questioning authority, and the ways in which urban development effects both those inside and outside the city limits. 

The opera was begun prior to 2016 and had its first semi-premiere in 2016 at the ’62 Center for Theater and Dance, a part of Williams College in New York. Following the showing, in 2017 another excerpt was premiered, this time at the Fulton Center as part of the River to River Festival. Flash to 2021, and several more parts of the opera would be shown in the Brooklyn Public Library, before finally having its official premiere in October of 2022 at the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State University. Reviews praised the opera for its innovation and remarked the way in which Jane’s image was enriched. Others focused on the way in which this historical feud of urban planning was broadened and deepend for audiences.

The cast of the 2022 premiere featured many prominent singers of our contemporary generation including new music vocalist Megan Schubert as Jane Jacobs, Rinde Eckert as Robert Moses, and a cast including Melisa Bonetti, Kelvin Chan, and Tomás Cruz, among many others. 

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Check out a few excerpts from the opera.

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