In the Wings

Imagine living in a world that tells you what to wear, where to live, what your position and value to society is and how to procreate. What would happen if choice was taken away from you?

Why are there so many feminist dystopias in fiction and so few in opera? Can The Handmaid’s Tale, as both an opera and the foremother of the genre, bridge this gap?

What does it mean to be presenting an operatic version of The Handmaid’s Tale in 2019? How will it resonate differently with audiences than the book did in 1985?

Musicologist and writer Laura Stanfield Prichard takes a deep dive into The Handmaid's Tale by Poul Ruders, in Part One of this two-part series.

Everythng you need to know about Boston Lyric Opera's new production of THE HANDMAID'S TALE, by composer Poul Ruders, librettist Paul Bentley, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood.

The rape of Lucretia is a narrative rooted in historical fact: the tale of a Roman matron’s rape and subsequent suicide has lived on in the Western imagination for 2,500 years. What did the story mean to Benjamin Britten, when he created it in the 1940s? What does it mean to us today as we view it?

While there is no one way to respond to the personal experience of watching an artistic portrayal of sexual violence, the pervasiveness of such scenes in opera raises broader questions. What does it mean to portray sexual violence on the operatic stage, especially in LUCRETIA and HANDMAID'S TALE?

It may be impossible to talk about revolutions and opera without circling back to that iconic, endearing, clever barber, Figaro—an archetypal character who has transcended genres, charmed generations, and helped inspire a revolution.

Contralto Marian Anderson was thrust into the public spotlight after a controversial rejection from one of the nation’s prominent concert houses. She went on to make a landmark debut as the first black singer at the Metropolitan Opera and helped spark further action in the Civil Rights Movement.

In celebration of our 2018/19 Season, take a tour through opera history to find 7 examples that upended societal expectations, charted their own course, and imagined the world anew. Installment #3 – we turn to the Risorgimento in Italy and the mythic status of an unforgettable Verdi anthem.