The Metropolitan Opera announced Monday that it had commissioned a new opera about Russia’s abduction and deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children, the latest action by the company to show support for war-torn Ukraine.
The work, which will be written by the Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets, with a libretto by the American playwright George Brant, tells the story of a mother who makes a long and perilous trip to rescue her daughter, who is being held at a camp inside Crimea.
While the characters in the opera are fictional, the story is based on real-life accounts by Ukrainian mothers who have described making the harrowing 3,000-mile journey from Ukraine into Russian-occupied territory, and back again, to recover their children from the custody of the Russian authorities.
Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said the aim was to “support Ukraine culturally in its fight for freedom.”
Persons:
Maxim Kolomiiets, George Brant, Peter Gelb, ”
Organizations:
Metropolitan Opera
Locations:
Ukraine, Ukrainian, American, Crimea, Russian