Opera by Missy Mazzoli
The free-spirited Bess lives under strict scrutiny and control in a deeply religious community on the coast of Scotland. When she marries Jan, a worker from the oil rigs and the opposite of a devout Calvinist, she experiences happiness for the first time in her life. A happiness that comes to an abrupt end when Jan is left irreversibly paraplegic after an accident at work. In order to remain close to him, indeed to be able to go on living, Bess is told to sleep with other men and then tell him about it. Bess, who shortly before Jan's accident had begged God to bring her husband home earlier than planned, feels guilty and decides to fulfill Jan's wish – with terrible consequences.
The multi-award-winning film of the same name by Lars von Trier was released in cinemas in 1996. Exactly twenty years later, it was discovered for the opera stage and premiered in Philadelphia. The highly renowned American composer Missy Mazzoli wrote the impressive music for it, which gives space to the strong characters as well as to a critical view of a bigoted society.
