*Innocence,* Apr 22 2026

Karen, Susan, and I saw Innocence at the Met on April 22, 2026. It's a new opera from 2021 by Kaija Saariaho on a libretto by Sofi Oksanen and Aleksi Barrière. This was Saariaho's last opera, she died in 2023. The Met did her first opera, L'Amour de Loin, in 2016, that was stunning. Innocence was more ambitious and a deeper, more impactful experience.

It's the story of a school shooting and its impact on the family of the shooter, the community, and the victims themselves. I was surprised and impressed that the creators chose to tell the story from many angles, showing that many people were in some way responsible for the shooting or could have prevented it. That sense of shame and responsibility grew and became more complicated and upsetting as the opera progressed.

It started with a prelude, which was unusually long for a contemporary opera, maybe five minutes of music with the curtain down (also unusual, everyone wants to stage the overture these days). The music was at once amorphous and concrete - - something you couldn't quite grasp but latched onto your ear and held your attention. That was the case for the whole opera. Saariaho was a master of orchestration, the colors she got out of the orchestra were astonishing and continually shifting.

I might have asked for a few more moments of vocal lyricism but you can get that any other night at the Met, it wasn't really called for in this case. The music served the drama, that's what it's meant to do. The quietest, tenderest moments were for the character of the teacher, sung by English soprano Lucy Shelton. Shelton is a giant in the contemporary music scene, making her Met debut at the age of 82. She was given the loveliest music in the opera and she totally delivered it, it was a joy to hear her. I'd love to hear her in another role or in recital.

The leading role (if we go by the curtain calls) was the role of a waitress, sung by Met star Joyce DiDonato. I've heard her in nine operas at the Met and she always gives a great performance on every level. Her singing is highly expressive and her acting in this intense role was forceful and well measured.

I was expecting Shelton and DiDonato to give great performances - - my favorite singer of the evening was Vilma Jää as the ghost of DiDonato's daughter, a victim of the shooting. I'll quote from the program notes: the role was "written for an indigenous Finno-Ugric fold singer using various techniques, including the haunting calls of rural herders." What a thrill to hear such unusual singing on the stage of the Met, seamlessly woven into the opera by Saariaho. Karen was struck by a song that her character sang in the classroom, a song that the character had written. It had a folk flavor and was another valuable moment of lyricism (Karen described it as "haunting and beautiful"). Here's that moment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDbOswQdpRaSo&v=bOswQdpRaSo

The parents of the shooter were played by singers I've heard many times, Rod Gilfry and Kathleen Kim. They were both very strong, especially Gilfry. The conductor was Susanna Mälkki, a frequent Saariaho collaborator. She brought all of the glorious colors out of the score while also keeping an eye on pacing and drama.

The production was directed by Simon Stone with set designs by Chloe Lamford. Clearly they worked together closely, the staging and design were absolutely unified in their conception and delivery of the story. There were some scenic surprises over the course of the evening, they added to the richness of the experience.

Karen was curious to see about a dozen mostly men in dark shirts taking bows during the curtain call. She heard someone near her say, "Is that the stagehands? Or the chorus?" Karen asked AI the next day and sure enough it was the stagehands - - they do the rapid scene changes that add so much to the production. She also found a fascinating article in The New York Times about them, look it up if you can.

The performance was what Wagner called a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art, something where all of the elements are working together towards one goal. I can't give any higher praise.