When choosing her opera subjects, Thea Musgrave often has exhibited a weakness for historical figures (Mary, Queen of Scots; Harriet, The Woman Called Moses; and Simon Bolivar), and with her new work, Pontalba, which bows on October 2 at New Orleans Opera, she runs true to form.(On The Beat)(Brief Article)

When choosing her opera subjects, THEA MUSGRAVE often has exhibited a weakness for historical figures (Mary, Queen of Scots; Harriet, The Woman Called Moses; and Simon Bolivar), and with her new work, Pontalba, which bows on October 2 at New Orleans Opera, she runs true to form. Don't be afraid to ask, who's Pontalba? I'm the type who easily can recite all of JEAN KRAFT's Met credits but is a little foggy on much of American history. So I asked, and here was Musgrave's answer: "I got a phone call from ROBERT LYALL [general director of New Orleans Opera], who asked me if I would like to work on an opera for him. He was looking for something to commemorate the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. I said, 'That's wonderful, but let's not write a history lesson. I mean, how would you characterize Jefferson and Napoleon? Instead, why not use the Purchase as a starting point, not a concluding point?'" Lyall then came up with a hook, Christina Vella's ...