Curtis Opera Theatre's "La Passion de Simone" on OperaWire

On February 26, 2026, Curtis Opera Theatre, a program of the Curtis Institute of Music, presented something unique. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023) deliberately stripped away the familiar scaffolding of opera—no heroes, no villains, no tidy narrative arc—and replaced it with something closer to performance art with a score. Sung in French with English supertitles, La Passion de Simone, a “musical journey in 15 stations,” is a 75-minute, no-intermission work that left me genuinely perplexed. In the best way.

The soprano Nikan Ingabire Kanate carried the full 75 minutes as the Narrator, singing without interruption from start to finish. Her stamina was remarkable, her tone clear and bright throughout. With Shields and Oliva building a living atmosphere through light and smoke, Kanate’s striking voice was the constant—the element that held it all together.

The Curtis New Music Ensemble played Saariaho’s demanding score with real skill and feeling. Leading them was conductor Marc Lowenstein.

“This is not music driven by story. It simply asks us to be present.”

Read the full review by Chris Ruel on OperaWire.