Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking
At the Metropolitan opera, New York, redemption overcomes rage when a nun and a murderer meet on death row. Starring Latonia Moore, Joyce DiDonato and Ryan McKinny.
Winning universal critical acclaim at its premiere in 2000, Dead Man Walking by the American composer Jake Heggie is the most widely performed opera of the last two decades. With a libretto by Terence McNally, it's an adaptation of the powerful memoir by Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and anti-death-penalty activist from New Orleans. The tale of rage and redemption which questions the morality of the death penalty is set to a score that has been compared to West Side Story for its immediacy and impact.
Joseph De Rocher is a convicted murderer on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary and Sister Helen reluctantly becomes his spiritual adviser. As their relationship develops, Sister Helen is able to bring a kind of peace to De Rocher and his family, and persuades him to acknowledge his guilt. Finally, when the time comes, she is there to support him at the hour of his death.
Yannick NΓ©zet-SΓ©guin, the Met's dynamic music director, conducts a starry cast and continues to make good his pledge to refresh the repertoire and bring new audiences to the august institution.
Recorded in New York in October and presented by Debra Lew Harder with commentator Ira Siff.
The opera contains subject matter and strong language which some listeners may find offensive or upsetting.
Jake Heggie: Dead Man Walking
Sister Rose ..... Latonia Moore (soprano)
Sister Helen Prejean ..... Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano)
Joseph De Rocher ..... Ryan McKinny (bass-baritone)
Mrs Patrick De Rocher ..... Susan Graham (mezzo-soprano)
Warden Benton ..... Raymond Aceto (baritone)
Father Grenville ..... Chad Shelton (tenor)
Kitty Hart ..... Wendy Bryn Harmer (soprano)
Owen Hart ..... Rod Gilfry (baritone)
Howard Boucher ..... Chauncey Packer (tenor)
A Motor Cop ..... Justin Austin (baritone)
Older brother ..... Mark Joseph Mitrano (tenor)
Younger brother ..... Jonah Mussolino (treble)
Sister Catherine ..... Magdalena KuΕΊma (soprano)
Sister Lillianne ..... Briana Hunter (mezzo-soprano)
First prison guard ..... Christopher Job (baritone)
Second prison guard ..... John Hancock (baritone)
First mother ..... Helena Brown (soprano)
Mrs. Charlton ..... Alexa Jarvis (soprano)
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Yannick NΓ©zet-SΓ©guin (conductor)
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Music Played
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Jake Heggie
Dead Man Walking - Act 1
Performer: Chad Shelton. Performer: Chauncey Packer. Performer: Justin Austin. Performer: Magdalena KuΕΊma. Performer: Mark Joseph Mitrano. Performer: Briana Hunter. Performer: Helena Brown. Performer: New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Performer: Jonah Mussolino. Performer: Alexa Jarvis. Performer: Christopher Job. Singer: Latonia Moore. Singer: Joyce DiDonato. Singer: Ryan McKinny. Singer: Susan Graham. Singer: Raymond Aceto. Singer: Wendy Bryn Harmer. Singer: Rod Gilfry. Choir: New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus. Singer: John Hancock. Conductor: Yannick NΓ©zetβSΓ©guin. -
Jake Heggie
Dead Man Walking - Act 2
Performer: Chad Shelton. Performer: Chauncey Packer. Performer: Justin Austin. Performer: Magdalena KuΕΊma. Performer: Helena Brown. Performer: Jonah Mussolino. Performer: Mark Joseph Mitrano. Performer: New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Performer: Alexa Jarvis. Performer: Briana Hunter. Performer: Christopher Job. Singer: Latonia Moore. Singer: Joyce DiDonato. Singer: Ryan McKinny. Singer: Susan Graham. Singer: Raymond Aceto. Singer: Wendy Bryn Harmer. Singer: Rod Gilfry. Choir: New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus. Singer: John Hancock. Conductor: Yannick NΓ©zetβSΓ©guin. -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No 21 in C major, K 467
Performer: Maria JoΓ£o Pires. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.- Mozart; Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Maria Pires - Piano.
- DG.
- 4.
Broadcast
- Sat 20 Jan 2024 18:30ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3