The music reflects all of it - the turmoil, the regret he feels.
There’s genuine love between Antony and Cleopatra - he worships her, calls her Charmer, his Egypt. “But there’s genuine love at the crux of the story. “The relationships portrayed in the opera are so intense,” he said. She’s defiant and strong.”Īdams’ libretto, adapted from Shakespeare with additional sources including Virgil, Ovid, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead, brings in young Caesar as the third power player, one who intends to divide the lovers and conquer Egypt.įinley says the opera gets to the heart of the power struggle with heightened emotion and one of Adams’ most captivating scores. “She was someone who was extremely intelligent.
“In Egypt, Cleopatra was almost like a celebrity,” she said. The soprano grew up learning about her country’s powerful women - icons such as the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, and, of course, Cleopatra. It’s like tectonic plates crushing up against each other.”Įdris, who was born in Egypt, may be ideally suited to sing the role of Cleopatra. “These political titans of ancient times are being distilled in this moment.
“It’s fast-moving, intense, passionate, brutal, sensitive, and remorseful,” said Finley. Finley and Edris, who recently talked about the new work between rehearsals at the War Memorial Opera House, said they’ve been astonished by its impact. Directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer and conducted by company music director Eun Sun Kim, this bold new work stars bass-baritone Gerald Finley and soprano Amina Edris in the title roles, with tenor Paul Appleby as Octavius Caesar, the third member of the triumvirate.Ī timeless tale of desire, deceit and conquest, the new production fuses the Egyptian milieu with the glamour of 1930s Hollywood. “Antony and Cleopatra,” the new opera by Bay Area composer John Adams, makes its highly anticipated world premiere Sept. There’s an epic power struggle taking place at San Francisco Opera this month - one that dates all the way back to ancient Egypt.
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