In New York, actors depict children being killed by King Herod's soldiers, followed by Virgin Mary honoring student protesters who were killed in Mexico in 1968.
'El Nino' is a retelling of Jesus' birth and early life using biblical verses, modern Latin American poetry, medieval texts, and apocrypha.
This oratorio, set to music by John Adams and a libretto by him and Peter Sellars, is premiering at the Metropolitan Opera almost 25 years after it first appeared in Paris in 2000.
Met general manager Peter Gelb originally thought of it as an oratorio similar to Handel's 'Messiah' until he met with Lileana Blain-Cruz, the resident director of Lincoln Center Theater, who wanted to stage it as a full production.
The production at the Met uses puppets, projections, dancers, an onstage chorus, and a flying boat to tell the Nativity story from Mary's perspective in a vibrant, colorful way.
Blain-Cruz described the music as complex but life-affirming, expressing optimism and an antidote to loneliness and suffering.
She highlighted the contrast of darkness and the Christmas star in the music, symbolizing the feeling that the world is bigger than us and offering invigoration for life.
The production is framed as a story of people's migration from dangerous lands in search of a better life, drawing inspiration from Mary and Joseph's journey to Jerusalem and fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod.
Blain-Cruz doubled the role of Mary, casting soprano Julia Bullock as 'Mary-of-the-land' and mezzo J’Nai Bridges as 'Mary-of-the-sea.'
The first act set reflects a lush jungle landscape, while the second act is influenced by a desert vision, symbolizing the transition from verdant to less hospitable lands.
The set reflects the contrast between lush nature and Herod's disregard for it, portraying him as a violator of people and the earth.
The set, while imaginative, is simpler compared to other new Met productions, resembling a two-dimensional panel book.
One emotional moment comes when Bullock sings Adams's setting of 'Memorial de Tlatelolco' after the children are killed.
Bullock describes this as a powerful moment, where the music brings the 20th century reality of genocide and violence closer to the ancient story.
Blain-Cruz and Bullock are both having their first performances at the Met with this production, as are bass-baritone Davóne Tines, and conductor Marin Alsop.
Alsop, who has extensively conducted Adams’ orchestral works, thinks “El Nino” is different from many of his other compositions.
“Usually there's a very strong beat,” throughout his pieces, but here, she said, those moments of insistent “groove” switch with “thoughtful and reflective” parts.
“And that’s why I’m so impressed with the cast and choir,” she said, “that they’re able to float these beautiful lines over this kind of constantly changing sea underneath them.”
That fast changing makes the conductor’s work more difficult as well.
“There’s so much going on,” she said, “There’s rarely a whole page that’s in the same meter. I have to be so totally engaged all the time, because around every corner is something tricky.”
The orchestration requires many instruments not usually heard in opera, such as two guitars, high cowbells, chimes, maracas, gongs known as temple bowls and a synthesizer that plays back a wide variety of recorded sound. As usual in Adams’ operas, he needs electronic amplification for the instruments and singers to be properly balanced and audible.
This will be the fourth Adams work performed by the Met, following “Doctor Atomic,” “Nixon in China” and “The Death of Klinghoffer.” Next season the company will stage his recent “Antony and Cleopatra” (also starring Bullock), extending his record for having the most operas by a currently living composer seen here.
