In El 狈颈帽辞 at the Met, the Virgin Mary Speaks Spanish

This month, eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met for the company premiere of El 狈颈帽辞, his dramatic reimagining of the Nativity story. The vibrant new production marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, one of the theatre world鈥檚 most daring young directors, and also sets the stage for the debuts of three fierce champions of new music: distinguished maestro Marin Alsop on the podium and soprano Julia Bullock and bass-baritone Dav贸ne Tines, who join mezzo-soprano J鈥橬ai Bridges to form a powerful trio of next-generation stars.

In the weeks leading up to the world premiere of El 狈颈帽辞 in Paris in 2000, John Adams described his unique opera-oratorio as 鈥渕y way of trying to understand what is meant by a miracle.鈥� The fourth of his works to take the Met stage, it approaches the traditional story of the Nativity from several new angles. The familiar elements are all here: Mary and Joseph鈥檚 arduous journey to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus, Herod鈥檚 barbarous Massacre of the Innocents, and the sacred family鈥檚 flight across the desert into Egypt. But to make the story simultaneously more immediate, more universal, and most importantly more dramatic, Adams and his longtime collaborator Peter Sellars vastly broadened their scope, incorporating both Biblical and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, ranging from pre-Christianity to the 20th century.

鈥淗ow can you tell this story today and not have a woman鈥檚 voice?鈥� Adams says. 鈥淪eldom in the officially sanctioned stories is there any more than a passing awareness of the misery and pain of labor, of the uncertainty and doubt of pregnancy, or of that mixture of supreme happiness and inexplicable emptiness that follows the moment of birth.鈥�

Taking center stage in the soprano role and portraying both the Virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel in her highly anticipated Met debut is Julia Bullock, a trailblazing soloist, community activist, leading advocate for contemporary works, and passionate champion of Adams鈥檚 music. Named the 2021 Musical America Artist of the Year and hailed by The Times of London as 鈥渙ne of the most exciting singers of her generation,鈥� she is the undisputed face of El 狈颈帽辞 today, having performed the piece extensively since 2018. El 狈颈帽辞 runs April 23鈥揗ay 17.

Bullock stars in a dynamic debut production by Lileana Blain-Cruz, whose celebrated maximalist productions have powered a meteoric rise in the theater world. Resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, Blain-Cruz is an innovative young theatrical voice with an affinity for dense and layered stories that allow her to encourage audiences to actively think and feel a sense of participation in the onstage action. Invoking her Puerto Rican heritage and her Catholic upbringing鈥攁nd hoping to build on the 21st-century concepts that Adams explores in the libretto鈥擝lain-Cruz structures her production around migrant stories, especially important to her as immigration becomes increasingly contentious鈥攁nd dangerous. 鈥淚mmigration is so terrifying. People are looking for a safe passage or a place to land,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n many ways, these stories mirror Mary and Joseph looking for a safe place to give birth to their child.鈥�

Immigration is just one of many contemporary issues examined in this new production of El 狈颈帽辞, alongside authoritarian regimes, feminism, and our changing environment. These questions come to the fore thanks to a libretto, assembled by Adams and Sellars, that brings prominent 20th-century Latin American literary figures into the story. In addition to adapted passages from the New Testament Apocrypha, the 15th-century Wakefield Mystery Plays, a Christmas sermon by Martin Luther, and a hymn by Hildegard von Bingen, Adams and Sellars included the poetry of Rosario Castellanos, Gabriela Mistral, Sor Juana In茅s de la Cruz, Rub茅n Dar铆o, and Vicente Huidobro鈥攁ll set in Spanish鈥攖o add a modern perspective and also, through these female voices, focus on Mary鈥檚 experience and the miracle of childbirth in general.

The title also drives home the universality of this story and the relevance of its themes. Adams explains that changing the title from How Could This Happen? (inspired by the birth of his first child) to El 狈颈帽辞 was influenced by the Spanish language in the libretto as well as the eponymous weather pattern鈥攑articularly relevant today as we experience increasingly extreme weather resulting from climate change. 鈥淭he association with storms and violent weather is right鈥攁 miracle is not without its alarming force,鈥� says Adams, quoting Sor Juana.

鈥淐hrist was referred to as the 鈥榃ind,鈥� a tempest that blows away all that comes in its path and transforms it. Herod knows this. We all know it when a child comes into the world."

Siman Chung, Julia Bullock, Eric Jurenas, and Key'mon W. Murrah in the Metropolitan Opera's *El 狈颈帽辞* Evan Zimmerman

The tempestuous nature of childbirth, especially the birth of Jesus, is illuminated in one of El 狈颈帽辞鈥檚 most gripping and emotional scenes: the moment of reflection following Herod鈥檚 Massacre of the Innocents in Part II.

Here, with Bullock in the spotlight, Adams draws connections between this biblical passage and modern society by evoking the 1968 Mexico City Massacres鈥攚hen the Mexican Armed Forces opened fire on students protesting the Olympics鈥攖hrough the poem 鈥淢emorial de Tlatelolco鈥� by Castellanos. 鈥淭his is one of the most inspiring pieces of poetry for me, and I think it will be a peak moment in the production,鈥� he says, but he also finds it increasingly troubling as time passes. 鈥淲e think this is something that couldn鈥檛 possibly happen now,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut then you read about what鈥檚 going on in Ukraine and realize that this is just a terrible aspect of human behavior.鈥�

To bring all this to life on stage, Blain-Cruz has reconvened the innovative creative team she assembled for her Tony-nominated Broadway production of The Skin of Our Teeth. A genius with color, set designer Adam Rigg鈥檚 immersive scenery reflects the journeys that many Latin American migrants experience, with vibrant evocations of tropical rainforests starkly juxtaposed with dry desert plains and impenetrable border walls. And the costumes by Montana Levi Blanco emphasize the characters鈥� relationships to their surroundings while also mixing in a touch of Afrofuturism and traditional biblical iconography. Yi Zhao paints the landscape with his vivid lighting design, working in concert with Hannah Wasileski鈥檚 projections, which appear like moving illustrations. James Ortiz simultaneously fills the stage with larger-than-life puppets, creating magic with dragons and a fiery Christmas Star.

鈥�El 狈颈帽辞 is about color,鈥� Adams says, 鈥渁nd I think this production is going to mix perfectly with the music and the emotion of the piece."

Intricate, sonorous, and evocative, Adams鈥檚 score exhibits his hallmark style鈥攎inimalist but flexible, and expansive when called for by the drama鈥攁nd incorporates passages of both extreme intimacy and raucous outburst, offering plenty for the Met Orchestra and Chorus to sink their teeth into. Guiding them from the podium in her long-awaited Met debut is Marin Alsop, a towering presence on the new-music scene who has led more than 200 world premieres over the course of her career. Adams and Alsop have been close friends for decades, and according to Adams, there鈥檚 no one who understands the American contemporary music scene as well as she does. At a time when the Met is presenting more works by living composers and stories that are relevant for today鈥檚 audiences, Alsop, who grew up in Manhattan and frequently attended performances at the Met, can鈥檛 wait to take the podium for 贰濒&苍产蝉辫;狈颈帽辞.

鈥淎rt is constantly evolving,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd the Met鈥檚 commitment to bringing alive works of our time is wonderful. I鈥檓 excited to be part of something new and different at the Met.鈥�

J'Nai Bridges in the Metropolitan Opera's *El 狈颈帽辞* Evan Zimmerman

Alsop conducts a compact cast of principal singers who move fluidly among the multiple roles they each portray. Starring alongside Bullock in the complex and demanding baritone role鈥攁ppearing as Mary鈥檚 confused and questioning husband Joseph, the ruthless tyrant Herod, and the booming voice of God鈥攊s Dav贸ne Tines, who makes his company debut after garnering tremendous praise for previous performances in this role in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Houston, and Cleveland, among other locales. Following her high-profile and widely acclaimed Met debut in Philip Glass鈥檚 Akhnaten, mezzo-soprano J鈥橬ai Bridges completes the principal trio, at times taking the role of a narrator and at others offering a parallel perspective of Mary alongside the soprano. The cast also features three countertenors who appear as the three wise men as well as the angel Gabriel鈥攁 perfect match for their ethereal sound.

For all involved, the Met premiere of El 狈颈帽辞 represents something larger than themselves. 鈥淚 feel very privileged to have a work chosen by an artist like Lileana and with a cast that expresses what this country is,鈥� says Adams. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a country of inclusion, and we鈥檝e been battling that, and it continues to be a challenge.鈥� For her part, Blain-Cruz hopes to kindle a love for the work among Met audiences, and for the art form itself in young and first-time opera-goers. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited for them to watch the curtain come up and be dazzled by color, life, light, and people that look like themselves on stage."