I actively seek brand-new works, particularly those that tell the stories of immigrants and marginalized communities or that reflect current sociopolitical issues.

What I’m most looking forward to next season is the arrival of Kevin Puts’s first opera at the Met, Silent Night, with a libretto by Mark Campbell. Based on Christian Carion’s Oscar-nominated Joyeux Noël, the story depicts a truce on the war front on Christmas Eve, a fictionalized account of an actual event in December 1914, when the lead singer of the Berlin Imperial Opera (tenor Walter Kirchhoff), was sent to the front line to entertain the 120th and 124th Württemberg regiments, and the Scottish soldiers on the opposite side stood up and applauded. The opera (just like the film) highlights the futility of war and its destruction of lives and families.

Puts’s first opera, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music, was a remarkable achievement in orchestral and vocal writing, demonstrating his full promise as an opera composer. It premiered at the Minnesota Opera on November 12, 2011, in a production by Eric Simonson, and was subsequently performed widely, especially in the US. If my count is correct, James Robinson’s production at the Met will be the sixth new production of this opera since its premiere, a notable feat in the contemporary opera world.

I first saw Silent Night in Simonson’s staging at Philadelphia Opera in February 2013, then experienced it again at Opera San José in a bleak staging by Michael Shell, almost exactly four years later. Both times, I was struck by the piece’s beauty and by Puts’s sure hand in delineating the three sides. Obviously, the world was different then, and watching it now will feel surreal.

The Met assembled a great cast for this, and I simply can’t wait to see Ben Bliss and Elza van den Heever as the pair Nikolaus Sprink and Anna Sørensen, plus Ryan McKinny as the stern Lt. Horstmayer. A little fun fact: tenor Rolando Villazón, who will sing Ponchel, was actually the singing voice of Nikolaus Sprink in the movie!

Lastly, I leave you with a clip of the “Sleep” chorus from the opera, performed by the Minnesota Opera Chorus during the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s hoping the new production will prevail!