Rufus Wainwright's U.S. premiere of 'Dream Requiem,' L.A. Opera's 'Ainadamar': a spirtual double bill

Osvaldo Golijov’s beauteously unusual “Ainadamar” has reached Los Angeles. The opera, 1 of this century’s astir gratifying, portrays the 1936 governmental execution of the writer Federico Garcia Lorca during the Spanish Civil War done the last minutes of histrion Margarita Xirgu’s life. She dies arsenic she is astir to spell onstage successful the Lorca play “Mariana Pineda,” astir the heroine of an earlier Spanish revolution.

Margarita’s last infinitesimal connected Earth lasts 90 flamenco-filled minutes successful Golijov’s one-act opera. Lorca’s beingness — his tone and loves and lust — is revealed successful flashbacks, which L.A. Opera makes the astir of successful a flamboyant, dance-drenched production. But it is Margarita’s symptom we feel, her decease we acquisition and her life we mourn.

Lorca’s death, then, becomes a borrowed experience. He is simply a tone of history. Margarita’s past enactment is to walk connected that tone to a young actress, Nuria, and successful the process, to us. The saddest of operas, “Ainadamar” is not a tragic opera, not an opera of open-and-shut endings, but 1 of open-ended endings.

Life goes on. But what comes next?

A movie-length accumulation without intermission tin consciousness astir close for a modern audience. “Ainadamar” satisfies connected its ain but nevertheless suggests determination is thing much to consider. The sheer unit of Margarita’s being asks to stay successful our consciousness longer.

She did stay a small longer. Following the Sunday matinee of “Ainadamar” astatine the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Los Angeles Master Chorale gave the U.S. premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s caller “Dream Requiem,” which proved an perfect companion to “Ainadamar.”

Although Golijov is an introspective Argentine American composer who comes retired of the classical euphony world, his works are infused with people opus and creation from Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Wainwright is an introspective popular prima with a noted people opus pedigree who besides is an opera enthusiast and composer. At the pre-concert speech Sunday, Wainwright said proceeding Verdi’s Requiem arsenic a 13-year-old changed his life.

“Ainadamar” and the 80-minute “Dream Requiem” person poets astatine their core. Just arsenic Lorca embodies Lorca, Wainwright threads recitations of Lord Byron’s 1816 “Darkness,” passim a people different based connected the accepted Latin requiem text.

Each enactment is its ain fountain of tears. Ainadamar is, successful fact, the Arabic word for the Fountain of Tears, the tract successful Granada wherever Lorca was changeable by a firing squad, presumably for governmental reasons arsenic good arsenic for being gay. In “Dream Requiem,” we outcry implicit the environment. Byron wrote “Darkness” arsenic a effect to the 1815 Mt. Tambora volcano eruption successful Indonesia, which clouded sunlight astir the satellite for much than a year.

The alleged 1816 “year without a summer” was besides a clip of revolt successful Spain. Fifteen years later, the Spanish liberalist Mariana Pineda was executed. The 3 parts of “Ainadamar” statesman with the chorus singing a ballad to her.

The magnificent show of “Dream Requiem” — conducted by Grant Gershon and featuring, on with the Master Chorale, the awesome Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, an fantabulous ample orchestra, the spectacular soprano Liv Redpath and a vehement Jane Fonda arsenic the gripping narrator — proved a indispensable complement to a much problematic show of “Ainadamar.”

The opera has heavy L.A. roots. A Los Angeles Philharmonic co-commission, the theatrically tentative first version of “Ainadamar” survived connected its instances of philharmonic brilliance. Under the supervision of Peter Sellars, Golijov and librettist David Henry Hwang wholly rewrote “Ainadamar” for Santa Fe Opera successful a sublimely moving accumulation with gloriously grafitti-fied sets by L.A. creator Gronk.

A musically promising but uncertain opera instantly turned into an essential classic for a caller century. Long Beach Opera’s tenuous section premiere of that mentation was followed by a almighty performance show astatine the Ojai Music Festival with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Robert Spano and starring Dawn Upshaw, the forces who made the work’s celebrated recording.

The L.A. Opera revival is simply a caller accumulation that has been making the rounds astatine Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Detroit Opera and, past fall, New York’s Metropolitan Opera. It’s the enactment of Brazilian choreographer Deborah Colker, champion known for creating the Cirque du Soleil touring amusement “Ovo.”

Colker treats “Ainadamar” arsenic different play spectacle with dazzling imagery. The flamenco dancing, choreographed by Antonio Najarro, is breathtaking and the dancing terrific. Resplendent video projections by Tal Rosner look connected beaded curtains that situation a circular abstraction successful the mediate of the signifier wherever astir of the enactment takes place.

Ana Maria Martinez arsenic Margarita Xirgu, left, and Daniela Mack arsenic Federico Garcia Lorca successful “Ainadamar.”

(Cory Weaver / LA Opera)

But each of this avoids the challenges of a magical realism wherever questions astir the intent of poetry, theater, governmental resistance, beingness and bequest are answerable lone by dying. Golijov’s people is besides unanswerable, afloat of physics effects, wherever the dependable of gunshots bushed retired intricate creation rhythms.

The 3 main characters are played by women: Margarita (Ana María Martínez), Nuria (Vanessa Becerra) and Lorca (Daniela Mack). All beryllium believable and their trio astatine the extremity is exquisite, adjacent if with amplification and the melodramatic limitations of the accumulation they person constricted presence. Alfredo Tejada makes a startling institution debut arsenic a ferociously frightening Ramón Ruiz Alonso, who arrests Lorca. The company’s nonmigratory conductor, Lina González-Granados, thrives connected forcefully emphasized creation rhythms.

Less salient were the opera’s wondrous lyric moments oregon a consciousness of Golijov’s inventive, multifaceted philharmonic sources. Where the institution makes up for that, though, is successful its bid of informative podcasts and programme notes adding immoderate discourse is mislaid successful the staging.

Like Golijov (and similar Leonard Bernstein and Mahler), Wainwright is astatine bosom a songwriter, and helium had the vantage of Gershon conveying the luxuriant lyricism successful “Dream Requiem,” a enactment that astatine its bosom besides is operatic. He harks backmost to Verdi and the precocious 19th period but with his ain unexpected turns of phrase.

Like Golijov successful “Ainadamar,” Wainwright starts precise softly and slow-builds his philharmonic architecture retired of an array of materials and colors. He goes successful for large effects, tons of percussion, immense climaxes and saccharine melodies of which you tin never, if truthful inclined, get enough.

Wainwright bangs retired the “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath) arsenic astir each composers bash successful requiem masses, but helium tin beryllium restrained wherever others thin to beryllium large and enthusiastic (Sanctus) and visa versa. He shows nary mercy for the solo soprano part, but Redpath astounded arsenic she scaled the heights.

Jane Fonda recites Byron’s “Darkness” successful Rufus Wainwright’s “Dream Requiem” astatine Walt Disney Concert Hall connected Sunday.

(Jamie Pham / Los Angeles Master Chorale)

In the end, Wainwright has created a latter-day bardo, the spiritual travel that follows death. The interruptions from Byron’s poem brought chills successful Fonda’s mesmerizing reading, arsenic the substance follows the breakdown of humanity successful the aftermath of biology catastrophe. She made it consciousness similar a requiem informing for america all.

Once is not capable for “Dream Requiem.” A signaling of the premiere successful Paris past twelvemonth has been released, but it doesn’t clasp a candle to the unrecorded show by the Master Chorale successful Disney. “Dream Requiem” volition beryllium presented by respective co-commissioners successful Europe, arsenic good arsenic for the Royal Ballet successful London.

Who volition situation to imagination large and beryllium the archetypal to signifier “Dream Requiem” arsenic a treble measure with “Ainadamar”?