L'Amour de Loin New York Tickets

L’Amour de Loin

The opera L’Amour de Loin, which means “love from afar” in English, debuted in 2000. Jaufré longs for a different love, one who is far away; he realizes it is unlikely that he will ever find her. His old companions (the chorus) laugh at his dreams and tell him this woman does not exist. However, Jaufré hears differently from a pilgrim and devotes himself to thinking only of finding her.

Kaija Saariaho composed the score set to a libretto written by Amin Maalouf. Commissioned by the Salzburg Festival to create an opera, Saariaho had a 12^th-century poem called “La Vida Breve” in mind for it. Written by a French troubadour named Jaufre Rudel de Blaye, the poem told of the author’s great passion from the East “of whom he has only heard.” In 1996, she set the poem to music in a score written for soprano and electronic instruments.

Saariaho teamed with Maalouf to transform the simple poem into a “complex story very simply told” with a straightforward plot delving into themes of obsession and devotion, reality and illusion, and the “loneliness of the artist, the need to belong.”

Premiering at the Salzburg Festival in 2000 under conductor Kent Nagano, the opera received its American premiere at the Santa Fe Opera in 2002, conducted by Robert Spano. American-born theater director, Peter Sellars, known for his work with contemporary operas and his unique staging, directed the initial productions. Revived and performed several times since its debut, Susanna Malkki is conducting this production at the Met.

New York Tickets

Founded in 1883, the Metropolitan Opera is a forward-looking and moving opera company, making use of new technologies to help spread a love of—and an appreciation for—opera to the masses. They encourage and train new talent, many of whom go on to careers in opera; some even become stars.

Housed in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts since the late 1960s, the Met is also on the edge of performances, from new stagings of familiar operas to premieres of newly staged works.

The Met is in one of the fastest moving cities in the world. It is also a place where people are likely to find anything they might be looking for, including a great dinner, a fine hotel or a fun thing to do after the opera.

Similar Events

Beyond L’Amour de Loin, other productions that might be of interest are Romeo et Juliette, or Tristan und Isolde. Check out the event schedule and be sure to get your tickets through StubHub.