Duration: 2 hours and 48 minutes including intermission
Language: Spanish
Acclaimed American composer Gabriela Lena Frank makes her Met debut with her first opera, a magical-realist tale of the iconic artist couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The performance draws inspiration from their paintings and has a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. It will be shown live in cinemas in Sweden on May 30, 2026.
The story is designed as a reverse version of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and depicts Frida, sung by the distinguished mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, as she leaves the underworld on the Day of the Dead to be reunited with Diego, played by baritone Carlos Álvarez. The famously feuding couple briefly relive their stormy love, embracing both passion and pain before bidding a final farewell to the world of the living.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere of Frank’s opera, a “confident, richly imaginative composition” (The New Yorker), “bubbling with color and fresh originality” (Los Angeles Times). The vibrant new production is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker, following her acclaimed debut production of Ainadamar in 2024.