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The Met’s Frida & Diego Opera Imagines Feminist Revenge from Beyond the Grave

The Metropolitan Opera has opened "El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego," a new opera by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz that imagines Frida Kahlo returning from the underworld during Día de los Muertos for a reunion with her husband Diego Rivera. The production features mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as Frida, Carlos Álvarez as Diego, and choreography by Deborah Colker, with sets by Jon Bausor that evoke Kahlo's iconic paintings and mirror. The opera explores themes of pain, creativity, and marital strife, granting Kahlo physical freedom denied to her in life while centering her perspective over Rivera's.

Why Did the Met Opera Decide to Exhume Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s Marital Strife?

The Metropolitan Opera has staged Gabriela Lena Frank's first opera, *El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego*, which imagines a supernatural reunion between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera on Día de los Muertos. The production, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Isabel Leonard and Carlos Álvarez, uses magical realism to explore the couple's turbulent relationship, though it largely sidelines their Communist activism and Kahlo's queer affairs in favor of a simplified reconciliation narrative.

parties culture metropolitan opera opening night

The Metropolitan Opera opened its season with a politically charged production of Mason Bates's *The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay*, based on Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. General Manager Peter Gelb declared the company's commitment to freedom of artistic expression, drawing a lengthy standing ovation. The opera, running through Oct. 11, follows two Jewish cousins creating an anti-fascist superhero comic during WWII. The opening night featured speeches by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who warned that 'the arts are under attack,' and a red carpet attended by celebrities including Christine Baranski, Neil Patrick Harris, Laverne Cox, and Julianna Margulies.