Opera about a school shooting's aftermath has its US premiere in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An uneasy orchestral prelude sets the mood: muffled percussion, brooding woodwinds, anguished strings. The curtain rises and the first voices we hear are of two young men cowering in the shadows.
“I … I … I can’t ….go to work,” one stammers in German.
“I can’t board a plane … I can’t sit with my back to the door,” another says in Spanish.
They are living ghosts, traumatized survivors of a school shooting that occurred 10 years earlier, but the memory of which intrudes like an unwelcome guest on a wedding celebration taking place in the present.
So begins “Innocence,” the last opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who died of brain cancer last year. First seen at the Aix-en-Provence festival in France in 2021, it is now receiving its U.S. premiere in San Francisco beginning June 1.
For 100 intermission-less minutes on a split-level rotating set, the two worlds play out, separately at first but gradually intertwining as we learn the tragic connections between the bridegroom’s family and the long-ago events at an international school.
Related articles
T20 warmup match between England and Pakistan abandoned because of rain, damaging World Cup prep
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — The T20 World Cup preparations of England and Pakistan were further hurt after2024-05-29Xi Gives Important Instructions on Party Building and Organizational Work
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-29- Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-29
During the 2023 National Day and Mid
On October 1st, 2023,in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, GuizhouProvince, visitors w2024-05-29Qatar's ruler looking to invest in energy, ports and high
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The emir of Qatar is looking to invest in energy and high-tech in Cyprus — pr2024-05-29Book of Xi's Discourses on Work for Women, Children Published
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-29
atest comment