Eighteen years is far too long to go without recording an opera like Kaija Saariaho’s “Adriana Mater.” The Finnish composer’s 2006 follow-up to “L’Amour de loin ” is a work of both hypnotic allure and harrowing immediacy. While it’s good of Deutsche Grammophon to put out this digital-only release, it’s a rather half-hearted tribute to the late Saariaho.
There isn’t even a PDF booklet included in the purchase—the libretto has to be download from the composer’s website . At least the Recording Academy recognized the quality of both the work itself and this superb live performance, mounted by the San Francisco Symphony in a semi-staged production less than a week after Saariaho passed away in 2023. It’s a contender for both Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Opera Recording at the Grammys on Sunday.
“ L’Amour de loin,” while exquisite, was stymied by its lack of action—the long-distance relationship between a troubadour and his lady-love doesn’t exactly make for gripping theater. “Adriana Mater,” by contrast, is a disturbingly claustrophobic family drama. The French-language libretto by playwright Amin Maalouf, who also wrote the text for “L’Amour de loin,” sets up an intense crucible with his ostensibly simple tale.
The titular Adriana (“mater” is a maternal label, not her last name) lives with her sister Refka in an unnamed village. When war breaks out, the town drunkard Tsargo takes advantage of the conflict, ris.