Opera Philadelphia Will Mount ‘Breaking the Waves’ Adaptation

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Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgard in a scene from the film “Breaking the Waves.”Credit October Films

“Breaking the Waves,” a new chamber opera by Missy Mazzoli with a libretto by Royce Vavrek that is based on the psychosexual 1996 Lars von Trier film of the same name, will be given its world premiere in September by Opera Philadelphia, the company announced Tuesday.

The new opera, which will have its premiere Sept. 22 at the intimate Perelman Theater in a production by James Darrah, is another sign of the way the company has been working to reinvent itself. But its next season will also offer more traditional but still noteworthy fare, including Christine Goerke in the title role of Puccini’s “Turandot” and the mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe’s first appearance singing the title role of Rossini’s “Tancredi,” which will both be performed at the Academy of Music.

And Opera Philadelphia and Fringe Arts will present the American premiere of a stripped-down, reimagined version of Verdi’s “Macbeth” that is set in the wars of the Democratic Republic of  Congo in a production by Third World Bunfight, the innovative South African company. The Belgian composer Fabrizio Cassol rewrote and adapted Verdi’s score for 12 onstage musicians for the production.