Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincinnatiopera continued its 2026 summer season with one of the most Avery anticipated events in the opera world: the world premiere of Lalovavi, the first production in the company’s Black Opera Project initiative. With music by Kevin Day and libretto by Tifara Brown, its Afrofuturist story, set 400 years in the future in the city of Atlas (formerly Atlanta) can best be described as 1984 meets The Handmaid’s Tale meets Avatar, wherein society is built on advancing scientific technology but is under the crush of a totalitarian regime engineered in the name of longevity.
Beneath this spectacularly unique story lies some of the most engaging and exciting characters written for an African-American cast since George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Soprano Brittany Olivia Logan truly soared as the principal heroine Persephone, with a commanding stage presence that belies her innocence and fear for the future, matched by the incredible versatility and power of her voice, as demonstrated most wonderfully in Acts 2 and 3 in extended scenes set outside Atlas’ walls.
Soprano Adrienne Danrich as Persephone’s maid Dinah was equally wonderful, with a voice reminiscent of Jessye Norman early in her career, and a steely resolve which was thrilling to see play out on stage. Mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams as Zipporah possessed a glittering, warm tone that fit her character’s personality well. Bass-baritone Morris Robinson as the evil Titan was a performance for the ages, with an eerily strong command of his voice and an iron grip on his character’s emotional contours, seconded by baritone Michael Preacely as his right-hand man Dr. Apollos.
In supporting roles, soprano Talise Trevigne as Niamara, leaser of the Nunewaks, gave a performance that was at once passionate and fiercely captivating. Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy as the warrior Lucien provided a thrilling and lustrous sound, most beautifully in his Act 2 lullaby to Persephone. Countertenor G. Thomas Allen as the mysterious, snake-like Ivavi, brought a lyrical vivacity and intimate beauty to the role which is rare in modern operas (as is contemporary roles for countertenors).

The Cincinnati Opera Chorus under the direction of Donald Lee III was truly among the best choruses assembled for an opera in Cincinnati in several years. Despite numbering only 24 singers, they made the most of the many opportunities to demonstrate their dramatic heft and vocal agility as residents of Atlas and the Nunewaks. @cincysymphony under guest conductor Kevin Miller proved once again to be one of the finest opera orchestras in the United States with this evening’s performance, thanks to luminescent strings, stinging and powerful brass and heart-pounding percussion (particularly in acts 1 and 3). Much of Kevin Day’s compositional style for this opera called to mind works like Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes and Giacomo Puccini’s late operas such as Turandot and La Fanciulla del West, while also cloaked in a uniquely American style that was reminiscent of John Williams and Hans Zimmer (both of whom, at least to this critic’s knowledge, have never written full scale operas as of yet).
It is fair to say that this first endeavor in @cincinnatiopera’s Black Opera Project was a resounding success with audiences, as it gave them something which has become something of a rare commodity: an African American story that looks forward to a hopeful future, one which will certainly.be built upon in the stories for the next two operas in this initiative, to come in the summers of 2027 and 2028.
Bravi tutti to the entire cast and creative team of this truly spectacular world-premiere staging, one which will be remembered for years to come.