The progressive flank of the Boston Lyric Opera resumed its onward march on Wednesday night, as the company unveiled the fourth off-site production in its Opera Annex series, initiated in 2010. This time the series brought a contemporary opera to South Boston, taking over a large installation space at the Artists for the Humanity EpiCenter.
The occasion was the North American premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s one-act opera “Clemency,” itself a BLO co-commission with a number European partners. That BLO is not only finding the institutional room to diversify its programming but is also now wading into the business of commissioning is a very hopeful sign.
Comments
What is missing from this review is any negative opinion about the Schubert "Hagar" itself. In fact, MacMillan's work gained from the simple insufficiency of Schubert's "song," which was the teenaged composer's juvenalian attempt at a mini-operatic presentation.