The Academy Award nominations were announced on Tuesday, to the unsurprising hoopla that ensued. And sure enough, this pair of tweets arrived.

The last time I did this, I was asking who's going to compose the opera adaptation of "Lincoln in the Bardo", and we now know it's @missymazzoli. Who's going to compose the operatic adaptation of "The Favourite?"

— Zoë Madonna (@knitandlisten) January 22, 2019

(Calling it: @MattilaKarita as Queen Anne, @HeldenMommy as Sarah, @jbartonmezzo as Abigail.)

— Zoë Madonna (@knitandlisten) January 22, 2019

Of course, that gets you wondering about the possibilities. Operas based on films are not novel concepts. It’s been done, a lot. And many times, the films adapted for the opera stage are Oscar nominees. (SPOILERS AHEAD).

So for this edition of Opera Meets Film, we’re going to do some wishful thinking and imagine that some of these Oscar nominees could become a librettist and composer’s dream (I am not going to get into dream casting because that would be an unending rabbit hole).

The Favourite

The tweet was inspired by the 10-time Oscar nominee, so let’s kick things off with that. Yorgos Lanthimos’ film is undeniably the most obvious of the major nominees. It is set in the 17^th century and deals with a monarch and the people around her trying to control her and gain power over the state. It’s a story about love, deception, greed, and disappointment, all packaged in dark humor. The film itself places great emphasis on baroque music to establish its emotional turns, with an operatic passage figuring prominently. It would be a surefire hit for three female leads.

Cold War

Pawel Pawlikowski’s masterpiece was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Director. It’s an intense love story set across numerous locales and decades. Zula and Wiktor find themselves constantly separated by the world falling apart around them, but they always try and find a way back to one another. While Pawlikowski’s style is understated, the film and its story is the perfect setup for a chamber opera with its emphasis on the two protagonists and the intense emotional journey they traverse together and apart.

If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel does not scream opera at all, especially given its stream-of-consciousness style. And while on the surface the Oscar nominee’s style creates a poetic web of narrative rhapsody, the film tells a rather linear story (similar to “Cold War”) of two lovers trying to find a way to be together in the midst of a racist world that constantly keeps them apart. The film already expresses itself beautifully through music and there is no doubt that the material could inspire another composer and librettist to great musical-dramatic heights.

Vice

Adam McKay’s film cannot be adapted into an opera on its stylistic terms, simply because the Best Picture nominee’s modus operandi is not conducive to an operatic experience. But what can be taken from this film is the story at its core – a man, with a strong woman by his side, rises to power and does all that he must to sustain it, even the unthinkable. Yes, it sounds like “Macbeth,” a fact that the film itself makes note of at one point. Adapted as such, “Vice” could make for a fascinating operatic reading of our current political system in the context of a Shakespearean reading. Verdi might have found that interesting. As might someone like John Adams, especially in light of his own “Nixon in China” and “Death of a Klinghoffer.”

A Star Is Born

This story has had more film adaptations than you can keep track of and the latest iteration earned eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. It’s the story of a man who discovers and falls in love with a promising young singer and helps launch her to stardom. Meanwhile, despite their deep love for one another, he succumbs to problems of addiction and self-doubt, leading to an ultimate tragedy for both.

Why not tell this story in the context of the opera world with the two artists dealing with the challenges of being modern opera singers? Composers like Strauss and, most recently Jake Heggie, have created self-reflexive works of opera and this story, with its emotional intensity and ultimately tragic end, seems tailor-made for the artform.

Blackkklansman

Spike Lee’s latest Oscar-nominated joint (for best director and picture, among others) might not seem like the kind of film you adapt into an opera. A black detective infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan. How? Through the power of voice. While a fellow officer poses for him in person, he remains in contact with the racist organization via phone calls.

This might not seem like a straightforward story for adaptation to the opera stage, but its challenges would be perfect for an experimental composer that might utilize different voice types to explore this world through music. Moreover, the subject matter lends itself perfectly for opera’s moral extremes, which are ripe for musical expression.

At Eternity’s Gate

The next two films tell very intense stories about men trying to find meaning in their respective existences. In “At Eternity’s Gate,” we see Vincent Van Gogh trying to come to terms with his place in the world in the context of his art. He knows that what he is going is great, but no one appreciates it and the rejection only creates an increasingly fractured emotional state for him. The film, which received a nomination for Best Actor, would be the perfect chamber opera or potentially even monopera for someone who wants to explore great internal pain and suffering. Opera composers have always had an obsession for historical figures of note and this film, about one of history’s most impactful painters, fits the bill.

First Reformed

No less traumatic (and perhaps even more so) is Paul Shrader’s Best Screenplay nominee. A film about a priest trying to come to terms with his faith in a world imploding around him, this is another potential work that could fit in as a strong chamber opera. At one point, the priest Toller has a conversation with a despairing man over the world’s impending fate. It’s philosophical in nature, but also extremely moving and full of great emotional turmoil. The scene is the focal shift for the protagonist and over the course of this exchange, the viewer feels the charaemotional turmoil in the protagonist grow and grow; he is never the same after this scene. It has the potential for a composer willing to traverse the philosophical and emotional in much the same way Wagner did.

Bonus: “Mary, Queen of Scots.” Because who doesn’t want more opportunities to see Queen Elizabeth in a new opera.

Do you agree? Do you feel that any other Oscar nominees should be considered for opera adaptations? Let us know in the comments below!