A video will project images behind the production, allowing the opera to play out in the shadow of the mountains. For the opera the crew travelled to Wyoming to film the actual mountains that inspired the story. The movie was set against the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies.
"The landscape is meant to be magnificent and impressive, but also very harsh and very dangerous." The cinematography of the Ang Lee-directed film (above), while beautiful, failed to capture the true nature of the landscape, said Wuorinen. The result is a production that brings to life the Proulx version of the story, with an emphasis on the rugged Wyoming landscape. Proulx went one step further, offering to write the libretto. The Pulitzer-prize winning American composer approached Proulx in 2007 to ask for her blessing to adapt the story for opera. "Same-sex love, especially when it takes place in an environment where it's absolutely forbidden, is a contemporary version of the same eternal problem."
"In older operas there would be an illegitimate child or difference of social classes," said Wuorinen.
After reading Proulx' tale of doomed lovers, composer Charles Wuorinen knew he had the makings of a tragic opera.
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