Lincoln in the Bardo

George Saunders’s Booker Prize–winning novel arrives at the Met in operatic form, with music by American composer Missy Mazzoli—hailed by The New Yorker as a “once-in-a-generation magician of the orchestra”—and libretto by Royce Vavrek. The supernatural story takes place in the “bardo,” a transitional plane between the end of this life and the beginning of the next, populated by those who resist all the powers of light and darkness and refuse to accept their fates. The action revolves around 11-year-old Willie, recently deceased son of Abraham Lincoln, whose grief-stricken visits to Willie’s tomb prevent his son’s spirit from moving on. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts an ensemble cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as Lincoln, alongside a superlative group of singers as the kaleidoscopic residents of the bardo, who band together to help Willie escape being trapped there for eternity—including soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz has created an otherworldly setting for this unique and uniquely American tale, which arrives at the Met in time for the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations.

Composed by Missy Mazzoli
Libretto by Royce Vavrek
Based on the novel by George Saunders

Production a gift of The Emiko Terasaki Foundation and the Rosalie J. Coe Weir Endowment Fund

Additional support from the Francis Goelet Endowment Fund, The Halff Windham Foundation, and Ellen A. Michelson

The Met gratefully acknowledges the support of the Howard Gilman Foundation

Lincoln in the Bardo is part of the Neubauer Family Foundation New Works Initiative

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera