This true-life opera was
first performed in 1991 in Brussels, Belgium
with the libretto written by the Alice Goodman and the concept being
suggested by the theatre director Peter Sellars.It is the story of Leon Klinghoffer who was a passenger that was killed on the
ship, AchilleLauro,
which was hijacked in 1985 by the Palestinian Liberation Front.The music is said to have been
inspired by Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot
Lunaire and Johann Sebastian Bach's
sacred oratorios and likened to the minimalist style of Steve Reich and
Philip Glass.Act I deals
with the various narratives by the characters on the events surrounding the
hijacking.Act II opens
with a chorus and deals with the terrorists and the demands that they are
making, with Klinghoffer ultimately being led
away and his subsequent death.It was extremely controversial in the United
States when it was first performed with
the accusation of "romanticizing terrorists", but there has
since been a Priz Italia award-winning television
version made in Britain
for Channel 4, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra with John Adams
conducting, and has also been performed by the Scottish Opera.The Los Angeles Opera apparently
shared in the commission of it, but have never performed it.
Recordings
Orchestra of the Opera de Lyon
Nonesuch NONE 79281 (CD: The Death of Klinghoffer)
