On July 13, the Santa Fe Opera will mount The Righteous by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K. Smith. The opera will mark Santa Fe's 19th premiere.
The work is set in the American Southwest, and follows the protagonist, David, a preacher-turned-state governor, from 1979 to 1990-a period that sees "the rise of feminism, the war on drugs, conflict in the Middle East and the AIDS epidemic," and his faith locking horns with political power and familial relationships.
Baritone Michael Mayes will play the lead role. Also on the cast are countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass-baritones Greer Grimsley and Nicholas Newton, sopranos Amber Wagner and Elena Villalón, and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano.
Kevin Newbury will direct the production, which also sees Jordan de Souza make his conducting debut with Santa Fe.
"As an artist, I'm interested in the ways that history talks to us," said librettist Tracy Smith. "Often, history makes its voice felt when the circumstances of the present fall eerily into step with the upheavals of an earlier time's conflicts. This fact used to unsettle me, as if we in our time were being hauled back to moments memorable for their struggle and strife; now I understand that the uncertainty of our own time makes it easier and more critical for us to hear anew the wisdom and the warnings of the past. As such, I find myself looking toward history often. It is not a backward gaze, for if history indeed came first, shouldn't it now be up ahead in the distance, turning behind to see if we are doing what it takes to keep up?"
The Santa Fe Opera's current season is dedicated to the late Richard Gaddes, the opera's former general director, and also features productions of Verdi's La Traviata, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, and Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore.
