Photo Credit: Opéra national du Rhin

A multitude of operas are premiered every year, some of which never really get as publicly highlighted as they should. Often this is because other operas take the limelight, funds, and critical attention. Thus, in this three-month series, “Opera History Flashbacks,” we will be taking a look at three historically important years and the operas that were premiered during them. If you wish to follow along, click here and find the right date.

In Part One, we looked at operas from 1991, famous worldwide as the year the USSR dissolved. In Part Two, operas from 1789 were examined — the year of the French Revolution and the dissolution of the Ancien régime. 

In this final part, we look at operas premiered during one of the most significant turning points for opera and the world in recent history: the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the setbacks incurred due to the virus, numerous operas of tremendous significance were premiered across the world. 

Amidst the year’s events — including the disaster at Notre Dame cathedral, the first image of a black hole, and the start of the Hong Kong freedom protests — opera was there to ground the human experience and unite us all in the airing of universally applicable stories. Perhaps the most famous opera premiere of 2019 was Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” (although its 2021 Metropolitan production is perhaps more well-known). Performed in June at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, that same month Iain Bell’s opera “Stonewall” was premiered at Lincoln Center. It was created specifically for the Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 event, and has not been revived since. The following month another opera premiered of equal topicality: Scott Davenport Richards’ ‘“Blind Injustice.” Based on a nonfiction book concerning wrongly convicted persons in Ohio, it was well received by critics.

In Europe and beyond, 2019 marked the premiere of works like Chaya Czernowin’s “Heart Chamber,” Matt Geer’s autobiographical “Sane and Sound,” and perhaps the most significant European premiere of the year: Hans Abrahamsen’s “The Snow Queen.” Russia also had its own premieres, including already composed operas like Stefano Landi’s “Il Sant’ Alessio” (1631) and new works like Kirill Shirokov’s “Marevo,” and Alexander Vustin’s only opera, “The Devil in Love.”

Interestingly, in Meiningen, Germany, the revised premiere of Othmar Schoeck’s opera “Das Schloss Dürande,” was presented: a thoroughly Modernist composer, although generally overlooked today. Schoeck’s output was immense, writing an exceptional number of lieder, with the opera being his last operatic work before his death.

As this three-part review of opera premieres shows, a great deal has happened and continues to happen: often all at the same time. Each event interacts with their circumstances, and with those of events around them, in differing ways. The best thing we can do is stay curious, eager, hungry for knowledge, and keep our ears to the world!

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