For those of us in the U.S. first gobsmacked by the haunting originality of Kaija Saariaho’s compositional “voice” at Santa Fe Opera’s 2002 American premiere of L’amour de loin, it’s bittersweet to realize that the Met production of Innocence will serve as a milestone in our closure process of accepting her loss. Saariaho’s gifts for vocal and instrumental writing and the uncanniness of the themes she musicalized resonate with unforced power, leaving behind an imprint rare among modern operas. So hope springs eternal that the Met performances of Innocence, which addresses in timely fashion the devastating aftermath of a school shooting, will bring us the catharsis for which we desperately yearn.

Darby Fegan agrees:

The Metropolitan Opera’s upcoming premiere of Kaija Saariaho is intriguing, given the timely topic of political unrest. Among Santa Fe Opera’s most memorable and successful premiers were Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin and Adriana Mater, equally riveting and transcendental.