Opera Inspired by Iranian Poetry Coming to Z Space

The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco on Everygirl’s journey (photograph by Devlin Shand Photography, from the Z Space event page for “Abraham in Flames”)

Next month Z Space will host the world premiere of an opera developed by Niloufar Talebi Projects. Talebi is an author, and the opera was inspired by her personal experiences with the life and works of Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou. This resulted in her writing a libretto for a new opera, “Abraham in Flames,” which takes its title from one of Shamlou’s books. The narrative concerts the protagonist Everygirl and her quest for truth through encounters with the allegorical characters Knowing, Happiness, Angel, Poet, and Fear.

The music for this libretto was composed by Aleksandra Vrebalov, who chose to have the character Everygirl sung by a girls chorus. Each of the allegorical figures was assigned to an adult vocalist. At the premiere performance the role of Everygirl will be taken by the Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco, whose director is Susan McMane. In the above order the roles of the allegorical characters will be taken by bass Kirk Eichelberger (Knowing), tenor Andrew Metzger (Happiness), countertenor Ryan Belongie (Angel), mezzo Renée Rapier (Poet), and soprano Nikki Einfeld (Fear). With the exception of Metzger, all vocalists are alumni of the Merola Opera Program; and the opera was incubated in partnership with Merola.

Vrebalov composed her score for accompaniment by a chamber sextet, which will be conducted by Stefano Flavoni at the premiere performance. The instrumentalists will be the two members of The Living Earth Show, guitarist Travis Andrews and percussionist Andy Meyerson, joined by Ron Borelli (accordion), Matthew Boyles (clarinet), Lucas Chen (cello), and Rachel Patrick (violin). Ming Luke serves as Music Director for the entire production. Staging will be provided by Director and Dramaturg Roy Rallo.

“Abraham in Flames” will be given four performances, at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11, and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 12. Running time will be 70 minutes, and there will be no intermission. The performances will take place at Z Space, located in NEMIZ (the NorthEast Mission Industrial Zone) at 450 Florida Street, near the corner of 17th Street. Standard admission will be $59.95 (including a $4.95 service charge), premium tickets are $81.75 ($6.75 service charge), and students with valid identification will be admitted for $27.25 ($2.25 service charge). Z Space has set up a Web page for online ticket purchases.