BREAKING THE WAVES Comes to Detroit Opera House Next Month

 Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s opera Breaking the Waves will come to the Detroit Opera House for three performances on April 6, 12 and 14. Soprano Kiera Duffy—who memorably created the role of Bess at the opera’s 2016 world premiere in Philadelphia—will return to sing Bess in Detroit. Baritone Ben Taylor (Schaunard in Detroit Opera’s 2022 La bohème), will sing the role of Jan, and rising conductor Stephanie Childress will make her Detroit Opera debut leading the cast and Detroit Opera Orchestra in Breaking the Waves.  

Breaking the Waves is a co-production that was first performed in 2019 at Scottish Opera, directed by Tom Morris; Diana Wyenn will direct the revival at Detroit Opera. The Detroit Opera cast will also feature soprano Elizabeth van Os as the Mother, mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Barkidjija as Bess’s sister-in-law Dodo, tenor David Portillo as Dr. Richardson (a role he originated in 2016), bass-baritone Nathan Stark as the Church Councilman, and bass-baritone Robert Mellon as Terry. 

Based on the controversial 1996 film by Lars von Trier, composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves stands on its own as a work of art, winning the 2017 award for “Best New Opera” by the Music Critics Association of North America. The opera, exploring the boundaries of love and social conventions, is set in a remote community in Scotland, where Bess undergoes a harrowing spiritual journey after her husband, Jan, suffers a paralyzing accident. Yuval Sharon, Detroit Opera’s artistic director, says, “Breaking the Waves is a work that tells the story of a woman’s agency in an impossible situation, grappling with what it means to be pious and good. It’s a powerful and searing work, and Mazzoli’s orchestration is oceanic, with soundscapes depicting a deeply human conflict, and collision in so many ways.” 

Missy Mazzoli says, “Opera is a place where big ideas can flourish—operas are long enough that big ideas can unfold. Breaking the Waves is about big ideas; it’s about the nature of goodness, the nature of faith, the nature of loyalty. Opera is where that all can exist. The physical landscape of Scotland was something I wanted to depict musically—this lush, soft, green sensual landscape with really violent natural elements, crashing waves, dramatic cliffs, rocks jutting out. That’s what the music needs to be. Another thing that makes this story so great is how complex every character is. That’s something that I can do in my role as composer is to illuminate the subtext. You have the character singing one thing, and then the music is saying something completely different—Bess in particular, because she’s so complicated and so multifaceted.” Royce Vavrek adds, “The piece is really an examination of goodness. You have Bess, who is doing everything out of a place of goodness, and Jan, who believes he is doing everything good—both are doing everything in their power to be good, yet somehow the intersection doesn’t come into alignment.”   

Mazzoli has been hailed as a “post-millennial Mozart” by Time Out New York. In his New York Times review of the world premiere of Breaking the Waves, Zachary Woolfe wrote, “It is not easy to find new operas that command attention, tell their story lucidly and create a powerful, permeating mood. Dark and daring, ‘Breaking the Waves’ does all this with sensitivity and style.” Opera News described it as "among the best 21st-century American operas yet produced." Kiera Duffy “embodied Bess in a fearless vocal and physical performance, her gleaming soprano finding all the colors of poignant innocence," wrote Heidi Waleson in the Wall Street Journal. 

Note: This production includes explicit language, nudity, and sexual content, some of a violent nature. Breaking the Waves is recommended for mature audiences only. 

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