The contemporary opera l’Amour de Loin (Love from Afar) is the third in this season’s HD Live from the Met operas playing Saturday, Dec. 10 at 9:55 a.m. at the Salmar Classic.
The quest for love, a very common and poignant human yearning, is the subject of this opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.
The libretto is by Lebanese-born, French author Amin Maalouf.
The New York Times has described this opera as “transfixing – a lushly beautiful score.”
It is finally having its Metropolitan Opera premiere in a dazzling new production by Québec superstar Robert Lepage, featuring glimmering ribbons of LED lights that extend across the length of the stage and over the orchestra pit.
The lights depict the sea, which separates the lovers and, according to Lepage, becomes a character in the story.
Lepage co-produced this opera with l’Opéra de Québec, where it premiered to acclaim last summer.
Tenor Eric Owens is the knight on a quest for love, and soprano Susanna Phillips is his lover on the other side of the sea.
Mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford sings the Pilgrim, who connects the two. Finnish conductor Susanna Malkki makes her Met debut.
This poetic and bewitching new opera promises to be an experience for all the senses as it explores a range of human emotions.