What it's about
Tony Kushner’s play of the same name, on which this opera is based, was a huge Broadway success. It takes you to America in the late 1980s, marked by a wild zest for life, but also overshadowed by the Aids epidemic. The opera paints a striking picture of the main characters, with their intense relationships and emotionally charged tension. The characters in this episodic drama are linked by the deep human need for connection, together with existential experiences of fear, guilt and loneliness. At its centre is the terminally ill Prior Walter, abandoned by his partner, whose fever dreams turn into threatening visions of angels, until he finally finds great inner strength. Despite the serious subject, Eötvös’ score is laced with subtle humour; floating soundscapes, everyday noises and Broadway sounds create an absorbing effect. “Hallucination and reality flow seamlessly into one another in this piece. In the operatic version (…) I focus on the passionate relationships, on the highly dramatic tension of the wonderful text, on the permanently suspended state of the visions.” Peter Eötvös
