Innocence (opera)

Innocence
Opera by Kaija Saariaho
LibrettistSofi Oksanen, translated and adapted by Aleksi Barrière
LanguageEnglish, Finnish, Czech, French, Romanian, Swedish, German, Spanish, Greek
Premiere
3 July 2021 (2021-07-03)
Aix-en-Provence Festival

Innocence is an opera in five acts by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The libretto was written in Finnish by Sofi Oksanen and translated/adapted by Aleksi Barrière.

The opera was co-commissioned by the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Dutch National Opera, the Finnish National Opera, and the San Francisco Opera.[1][2] It received its world premiere on 3 July 2021 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, conducted by Susanna Mälkki and directed by Simon Stone.[3]

The opera tells the intertwined stories of a wedding in 2000s Helsinki and a school shooting ten years prior,[1][4] and has been described as a thriller.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b "Innocence | Kaija Saariaho". www.wisemusicclassical.com. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  2. ^ Cristi, A. A. "Kaija Saariaho's New Opera INNOCENCE Makes Its Long-Awaited UK Debut". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  3. ^ "INNOCENCE | Festival d'Aix—en—Provence | 3 – 23 juillet 2024". Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ross, Alex (2021-07-19). "The Sublime Terror of Kaija Saariaho's "Innocence"". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).