Overview

• The world premiere on July 19 at Gran Teatre del Liceu earned eight minutes of sustained applause and will be repeated on July 21.
• At age 88, Antoni Ros-Marbà orchestrated his first—and likely only—opera after completing the score in 2015 and overcoming pandemic delays.
• Anna Ponces’s semi-staged direction and Playmodes Studio’s dynamic lighting frame the two-act, 13-scene biopic with innovative visual design.
• Anthony Carroll Madigan’s English libretto and American tenor Peter Tantsits in the title role aim to connect with global audiences.
• The production leaves Walter Benjamin’s cause of death open to interpretation and organizers view the English-language staging as primed for international tours.