A NEW OPERA ON THE TOO-FREQUENT TRAGEDY
Kaija Saariaho, one of the most poetic of composers in recent decades, created the operatic tragedy “Innocence” dwelling on one of the most painful episodes of recent years: in-school shootings, with a libretto initially by Sofi Oksanen, then reworked and adapted by Saariaho’s gifted son, Aleksi Barrière. Saariaho is best known for her earlier and widely played opera “L’amour de loin” (The Distant Beloved). The current one, in its U.S. premiere June 1, could not be timelier; our stages have…