Once again this year, the Opéra de Montréal is continuing with the breakthrough portion of its program by presenting another new work, the opera JFK by American composer David T. Little and Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek. Praise for this opera—jointly commissioned by the Fort Worth Opera, the American Lyric Theater, and the Opéra de Montréal—which premiered in Fort Worth in April 2016, has been unanimous: the work is “ravishing” and “triumphant” (Henry Stewart, Opera News), “rapturous” (Anthony Tommasini, New York Times), and “powerful and soul-crushingly gorgeous” (Edward Brown, Fort Worth Weekly).
Following the international success of their previous collaboration, Dog Days, Little and Vavrek took on the challenge of depicting the moments leading up to one of the past century’s most talked about events: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. With great subtlety, finesse, and an impressively rich musical setting, they have risen to the challenge to carve out “a piece of operatic history” (Paul Selar, Opera Chaser), and go beyond historical fact to address an issue facing all of humanity. In the words of its creators, the story “is also our story. Drawing us ever closer to our destinies, and of that final moment, real or imagined.” Little and Vavrek see JFK as “a portrait of a precipice.”
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Source: Opera stories from La Scena
Apr 26 2024
Don Pasquale Donizetti
Canadian Opera Company
Toronto, ON
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
