Met Opera premieres 'Lincoln in the Bardo' by Missy Mazzoli
The Metropolitan Opera opened a new opera based on George Saunders' novel Lincoln in the Bardo on Monday night. Missy Mazzoli wrote the music. She is the first woman composer to have a world premiere at the Met since it was founded in 1883.
The Metropolitan Opera premiered "Lincoln in the Bardo," an opera based on George Saunders' Booker Prize-winning novel, on Monday night in New York, NPR reported. The New Yorker had previewed the Oct. 19 premiere.
Missy Mazzoli wrote the music. She is the first woman composer to have a world premiere on the Met's stage since the company was founded in 1883, The New Yorker reported. Royce Vavrek, her longtime collaborator, wrote the libretto, and Lileana Blain-Cruz directs.
The 2017 novel follows President Abraham Lincoln after the death of his son Willie, who died of typhoid fever at age 11, The New Yorker reported. The boy is stuck in a realm between life and the afterlife, surrounded by spirits who have not moved on. His grieving father visits the body in the graveyard while the spirits, who do not realize they are dead, look on, NPR reported.
The show opens with the Met's chandeliers flickering and dozens of ghosts rising from their graves playing kazoos. "Sixty-five brilliant, trained opera singers playing the kazoo," Mazzoli said, according to NPR. She said she wanted the sound "to signify that this is not gonna be your typical opera."
The novel is told by 166 voices, and Vavrek narrowed the story to five main characters, NPR reported. One is the Reverend, sung by soprano Christine Goerke in mutton chops, a role Mazzoli wrote for her voice.
The staging uses puppets, pyrotechnics and stage magic, NPR reported. Puppet designer James Ortiz, who created the alien Rocky for "Project Hail Mary," worked on the show, The New Yorker reported. A 30-foot firework marks the moment Willie's soul crosses over.
For Mazzoli, the story is about grief giving Lincoln the strength to go on. "This experience in the graveyard gives him the strength and the compassion and the empathy to go on and commit himself to healing the country," she said.
The opera is part of the Met's celebration of the country's 250th birthday, with performances through Nov. 14, The New Yorker reported.
What we know: The opera premiered Oct. 19 at the Met and runs through Nov. 14.
What we don't: How critics and audiences will respond to the production.
Where outlets agree NPR and The New Yorker both report that Missy Mazzoli's opera of Lincoln in the Bardo was set for its Met world premiere on Oct. 19, the first by a woman composer there.
Where they differ The cited reports agree on the key facts so far.