Grendel, which had its world premiere at Los Angeles Opera in June of 2006 and went on to that summer's Lincoln Center Festival, was co-created by Taymor and Goldenthal, who are longtime life partners as well as frequent collaborators. She directed the staging and co-wrote the libretto with J. D. McClatchy.
Taymor's first notable work in opera was on Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, starring Philip Langridge and Jessye Norman and conducted by Seiji Ozawa, at the 1992 Saito Kinen Festival in Japan; that production was taped for television and won several awards internationally. Her previous movies includes Titus, a 1999 adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, and Frida, a 2002 biography of painter Frida Kahlo. The latter film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two, including one for Goldenthal's score. Taymor's latest project, Across the Universe, a feature film incorporating all or part of 33 songs by the Beatles or by former members of the band, was released last month.
