Once in a while one comes across a really impressive new opera and I would put The Lord of Cries; music by John Corigliano, text by Mark Adamo, into that category.  It’s an example of how opera is good at telling “big stories”.  In this case the base material is Euripides’ Bacchae but Adamo has relocated it to 19th century London and very cleverly layered onto it the core elements of Bram Stoker’s Dracula to create a multi-layered and subtle psychological thriller.

The basic plot is that Dionysos/Dracula wants to reclaim what is his; Carfax Abbey.  But Carrfax is now a lunatic asylum run by Dr. John Seward; son of, and heir apparent to, the Mayor of London who dies as the opera opens.  Seward is not prepared to make any concession to the alien and disturbing influences emanating from Dionysos/Dracula.  Seward is given three chances, as in Bacchae, but each time refuses, determining instead to destroy Dracula.  Realising that to destroy Dracula he must, in some sense, become him he embraces madness but returns from hiskilling mission with a head but it’s not Dracula; it’s his forbidden love Lucy Westenra/Harker.  The Lord of Cries has exacted his revenge.

Along the way other elements of the Dracula story are worked in; the broken Jonathan Harker and the three Odd Sisters who haunt him, Lucy; prepared to flirt/negotiate with the God but not, ultimately, concede.  There’s a doubting Van Helsing and a “correspondent”; a spoken role, who narrates bizrre events as they might have been reported in the Victorian press.  What there sn’t is any vampire kitsch; crucifixes, garlic etc.  Everything stands for something essential in the confrontation between Dionysos and Apollo.

Musically it’s skilful, dramatic and extremely entertaining.  There are distinct musical styles for each character ranging from ethereal to melodic to quite abrasive.  It’s scoredf for a large orchestra and Corigliano takes full advantage of that to produce a range of colours, dynamics and tonal effects.  The casting helps with this.  The Odd Sisters have a very high tessitura wghereas soprano lucy is in a much more naturalistic range.  Dionysos, in his various guises, is a counter tenor and Van Helsing a bass with Harker (tenor) and Seward (baritone) providing more contrast.  The Corrspondent speaks in a distinctly retro precise English.

The performances are terrific too. Anthony Roth Costanzo is terrific as Dionysos and plays off his principal antagonists Jarrett Ott, as Seward, and Kathryn Henry, as Lucy, brilliantly. Henry is also revealed as a very capable and subtle vocal actor. David Portillo shows considerable versatilty as he navigates Jonathan Harker’s varying degrees of madness. Matt Boehler is a suitably bluff and straightforward Van Helsing while Leah Brzyski, Rachel Blaustein and Felicia Gavilanes do very well with the difficult, high music of the sisters. William Ferguson manages just the right mix of matter-of-factness and incredulity as the Correspondent.  The Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Odyssey Opera Chorus are excellent too and conductor Gil Rose seems well into the spirit of the piece.

The recording was recorded in November 2022 in Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts and it’s a really nice, clear, balanced recording.  I thought it was excellent even though I was listening to CD quality digital files.  The physical release is two SACD discs and I’m sure that will add an additional layer of ambience and depth.  MP3 and CD and 24bit/96kHz FLAC are also available.  The booklet has lots of useful information as well as the full text and stage directions.

Definitely one of the best new operas to come my way in a while and very well realised as a recording.

Catalogue number: Pentatone PTC 518700.