A graveyard setting, populated primarily by spirits, serves as the backdrop for a new operatic adaptation of George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. The story centers on Abraham Lincoln, who finds himself mourning the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie, at a time when he is already heavily burdened by the pressures of leading a nation through the Civil War. Alive but paralysed by grief over the death of his 11-year-old son, and then there’s Abraham Lincoln.
While the premise might seem inherently somber, the creators emphasize that the production balances its heavy themes with humor and lightness. Librettist Royce Vavrek and composer Missy Mazzoli noted that the work is intentionally effervescent, blending heartbreak with joy. The narrative draws on the Tibetan Buddhist concept of the bardo—a state between death and rebirth—where souls in Georgetown’s Oakhill Cemetery struggle to move on, often referring to their coffins as “sick-boxes.” Only by accepting their state can these spirits move on in a process Saunders calls “matterlightblooming,” a nod to James Joyce. It’s actually far from that, according to its creators, if that capsule description makes “Lincoln in the Bardo” sound like a grim night at the opera. The ghosts populating Georgetown’s Oakhill Cemetery refuse to accept the circumstances – often abrupt or violent – that ended their lives.
Director Lileana Blain-Cruz, who is helming the world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, highlighted that the opera seeks to showcase the complexity of the human experience, spanning the inspiring to the ridiculous. The production showcases the personalities of various ghosts who have not yet come to terms with their deaths. Amid this netherworld, the story follows Lincoln’s late-night visit to his son’s crypt, eventually leading to Willie’s acceptance of his death and his father’s return to his presidential duties.
Composer Missy Mazzoli admitted that the most daunting aspect of the project was centering the score around the death of a child. To navigate the emotional difficulty of the subject matter, she focused on Willie’s character arc toward the end of the story, where he realizes that death offers him release from earthly limitations. The character sings an aria reflecting his newfound freedom to explore, fly, and indulge in previously forbidden earthly pleasures, serving as an awakening for the other lost souls. “When I’m writing, there’s a period of years where I’m alone with these characters,” she said. “I really tried to inhabit the character of this boy, but it’s hard to enter that place every day.”. Almost all the characters are dead. There’s something wonderful about encountering the fullness of life in all these characters.”. For Mazzoli, the biggest challenge in composing the score was the fact that it deals with the death of a child. According to she solved the problem by focusing on the end of the story, when Willie realises that since he is dead he is freed from earthly constraints. “He sings this incredible aria where he, ‘all is allowed me now,’” Mazzoli said. “’Now that I’m dead I can go down to the party, I can fly out the window, I can hang from the chandelier, I can drink rum.’. “He’s found this beautiful way of looking at it, and he sort of awakens the other dead people in the cemetery to this,” she said. “I had to find this positive slant so I wouldn’t be crushed by the sadder parts of the sto.
The Metropolitan Opera production opens on October 19, with music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin leading the performance. The run consists of nine performances featuring baritone Peter Mattei as Abraham Lincoln. The cast also features soprano Christine Goerke as the Reverend and counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as Miss Elise Traynor, marking a notable instance of gender-switching in the roles.
For Christine Goerke, a prominent dramatic soprano known for Wagner and Strauss roles, the production is particularly significant. She described the role of the Reverend, which was written specifically with her in mind, as a spectacular and demanding performance opportunity. The role challenges her both dramatically and vocally, requiring her to span a vast range while portraying a figure who resists his fate due to a fear of eternal damnation, eventually moving toward a moment of heroic self-sacrifice.
