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"Hands down, the most moving contemporary opera I’ve ever seen." - KQED

Innocence

By Kaija Saariaho, Sofi Oksanen and Aleksi Barrière

Overview

Composer

Kaija Saariaho

Original Finnish Libretto

Sofi Oksanen

Multilingual libretto

Aleksi Barrière

Dates

June 1-21, 2024

Languages

English, Finnish, Czech, Romanian, French, Swedish, German, Spanish and Greek

Price

Starting at $26

Run Time

1 hour, 48 minutes (no intermission)

Healing at the Edge of Tragedy.

A joyous wedding celebration takes a shocking turn when the darkest of secrets is revealed and a young bride faces an impossible decision. 

Stela, Lilian Farahani, believes she’s found love with her new husband, played by Miles Mykkanen. But amid the joy of their wedding reception, a waitress recognizes the groom as the brother of a gunman in a school shooting ten years ago. And the bride doesn’t know.

Premiered in Aix-en-Provence in 2021 and making its highly-anticipated American premiere in San Francisco, Innocence makes clear the power of the opera stage to explore critical stories in uniquely impactful ways. 


Digital Program Book Beyond Innocence Pre-opera talks

Watch online:
Beyond Innocence Symposium

The Buzz

“The ‘triumph’ characterization, richly deserved as it is, nonetheless feels inadequate to the experience”
San Francisco Chronicle

“Without doubt, Innocence was truly one of the strongest American premieres in recent years, joining prestigious ranks of American premieres at San Francisco Opera, including 1957 Dialogues of the Carmelites, 1959 Die Frau ohne Schatten, 1961 A Midsummer Night’s Dream and 2002 Saint François d’Assise.”
—Parterre Box

“Hands down, the most moving contemporary opera I’ve ever seen.”—KQED

See a Performance

Learn more about Innocence during a 90-minute exploration of the music and history, led by dynamic opera experts and scholars. Click on the Opera Previews button below for more information.
Opera Previews

 

OperaVision, HD video projection screens featured in the Balcony level for the first three performances.

San Francisco Opera's Department of Diversity, Equity, and Community is hosting a series of events in connection with the production, including post-show activations at every performance, to bring together local and national leaders, activists, community members, and the public with the goal of exploring and promoting awareness around the themes in Innocence. Visit here to learn more.

 

Content Warning: This production contains depictions of the aftermath of gun violence.

See & Hear More

Synopsis

The story occurs across two timelines. A wedding is being celebrated in Helsinki in the 2000s; in the world of memory, seven people recount a traumatic event they experienced ten years earlier. The connection between these realities is gradually revealed.


* San Francisco Opera Debut

PERFORMANCES
June 1, 7, 12, 16, 18, 21, 2024

World premiere in July 2021 at the Grand Théâtre de Provence, in Aix-en-Provence
Co-Commission and Co-Production of Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, San Francisco Opera, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Royal Opera House-Covent Garden London, Finnish National Opera and Ballet Helsinki
In partnership with the Metropolitan Opera

Backstage with Matthew: 
Anticipating Innocence

This June, we will raise the curtain on San Francisco Opera’s newest co-commission, Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence. I can say without exaggeration that this is one of the most deeply impactful works I have ever seen on the stage, and I am so proud that it will have its highly anticipated American premiere in San Francisco. The New York Times hails it as a “masterpiece” and with good reason: it takes us deep into emotional complexity in a way that pulls us in, takes hold of us, and leaves us changed. As we prepare to bring this extraordinary work to the stage, I wanted to share with you some of my personal reflections.

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Looking Back at Important Premieres and Commissions at San Francisco Opera

As San Francisco Opera prepares for the American premiere of Kaija Saariaho, Sofi Oksanen, and Aleksi Barrière’s Innocence, we wanted to explore our illustrious history of important world premieres, American premieres, commissions, and co-commissions.

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Inside Innocence: An Interview with Aleksi Barrière

San Francisco Opera’s Marketing Manager of Digital Content, Michael Bragg conducted a written interview with Aleksi Barrière in preparation for the American premiere of Innocence this June. Aleksi is both the dramaturg and multilingual librettist for Innocence. He is also the son of the opera’s composer, Kaija Saariaho.

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Made Possible By

This production is made possible, in part, by the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for New Productions; Keith and Priscilla Geeslin; Louise Gund; Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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