The Grapes of Wrath, which was commissioned by Minnesota Opera, has a libretto by Michael Korie, the librettist for Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk and the lyricist for the new musical Grey Gardens. Playwright and theater director Eric Simonson, who staged the U.S. premiere of Poul Ruders' A Handmaid's Tale at Minnesota Opera, is the director.
It will open on February 10, 2007, with a cast including Brian Leerhuber, Deanne Meek, Kelly Kaduce, Robert Orth, Roger Honeywell, Peter Halvorson, and Rosalind Elias.
Gordon is a composer of operas, theatrical works, and songs; his opera The Tibetan Book of the Dead premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 1996, and his song cycle Orpheus and Euridice premiered at Lincoln Center last year.
The new Donna del lago, a co-production with New York City Opera, will open the season in September. Chas Rader-Shieber directs; the cast includes Ewa Podles. Lakm_, staged by Adam Cook for Opera Australia/L'Op_ra de Montr_al production, will star Youngok Shin in the title role. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra will accompany the performances.