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.
The opera matters because it adds a major new cultural work to the ongoing global fascination with Frida Kahlo, who is already the subject of exhibitions at MoMA and Tate Modern, a Netflix adaptation, and a booming art market. By staging a feminist revenge narrative from beyond the grave, the production reframes Kahlo's legacy, emphasizing her agency and artistic genius rather than her role as Rivera's spouse. It also represents a significant collaboration between the Met Opera and contemporary Latinx artists, bringing Mexican cultural traditions like Día de los Muertos to a prestigious international stage.