The new Washington National Opera work is provocative, sweeping, intriguing, and chockful of some of the best voices and creatives of the 21st century.
For the past 20 years or more, the challenge that opera companies face is getting bodies in the seats. With an aging audience and waning interest in opera by younger generations, opera has had to reimagine itself and present stories that speak to contemporary times or dust the cobwebs from recent history. The Washington National Opera accomplishes this in its world debut of four works presented as Written in Stone, which moves partially away from the tropes of unrequited love and conflicts among nation-states and focuses on American monuments.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera commissioned works by four different composers and librettists highlighting an iconic Washington, DC, monument that resonates with them. The results are Chantal by Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran, Rise by Kamala Sankaram and A.M. Homes, it all falls downby Carlos Simon and March Bamuthi Joseph, and The Rift by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang.