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The Lord of Cries is a new opera composed by John Corigliano with a libretto by Mark Adamo. Inspired by the intriguing points of intersection between two classics of Western literature – The Bacchae by Euripides and Dracula by Bram Stoker – The Lord of Cries is sure to be one of the major operatic events of the new decade.
Despite being written nearly 24 centuries apart, The Bacchae and Dracula explore a timeless and subversive message through different perspectives: We must honor our animalistic nature lest it turn monstrous and destroy us.
The Lord of Cries begins with its title character – a strange, androgynous deity – returning to earth. He materializes in Victorian England as none other than the irresistible antihero Dracula, and offers a mortal three chances to “ask for what you want,” or risk the consequences.
Corigliano creates powerfully contrasting sound worlds to juxtapose the tidy world of the Victorians against the savage grandeur of the immortals, forging musical drama from the tension and gravitational pull between the two worlds. Says the composer, “One important point of The Lord of Cries is that this conflict between who we want to be and who we actually are goes on and on; it tormented the ancient Greeks, and it torments us. So that torment is the score’s real subject.”
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