MYTHOS: George Benjamin: Into the Little Hill / Toshio Hosokawa: Futari Shizuka

OPERA
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020
8:00 PM

92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan

$25-$50
https://www.92y.org/event/talea-ensemble

Before they became world-wide opera sensations with Written on Skin, composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp composed a hugely effective chamber opera about the Pied Piper legend, milking it for all the sociopolitcal allegory it could provide.  This is it.  Meanwhile, do you know Toshio Hosokawa?  He's Takemitsu's natural successor (I'm sure he hates being called that) as Japan's leading mainstream classical composer, whose stringwriting in particular is sharp, clear, and bracing.  Tonight's opera — a U.S. premiere — is a Noh ghost story, performed with Noh usages (in other words, it promises to be riveting).  Oh, and the Benjamin is sung by Charlotte Mundy and Lucy Dhegrae.  It is hard to conceive of that much awesomeness on one stage at the same time.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  Might as well cross the street for seasonal Italian at Sfoglia, where it isn't a backhanded compliment to say that the sensational bread stands out.