The world premiere of Missy Mazzoli's opera "The Galloping Cure" about the opioids epidemic took place in Edinburgh. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The composer said the opera was inspired by the deaths of two of her cousins. "One was in 2002 and the other passed away in 2009 and they were both 25," she said. "One overdosed on OxyContin and the other one overdosed heroin after becoming addicted to heroin via OxyContin."
The opera uses a carnival merry-go-round as an allegory. In the story, a charismatic charlatan named Lucky Man (baritone Justin Austin) arrives in the faded community of Yourtown in a white double-breasted suit and cowboy hat, offering free rides on fiberglass horses to ease residents' chronic pain. He then starts charging money — "dynamic pricing," as he calls it — and eventually drives people to bankruptcy. He demands noses, hair, kneecaps, and tongues as payment, body parts he will use to build more carousel horses.
Librettist Royce Vavrek and composer Missy Mazzoli presented the opera on August 9 at the Edinburgh International Festival. This is the first of two premieres for Mazzoli in a 71-day span. On October 19, she becomes the first woman composer with a premiere at New York's Metropolitan Opera with "Lincoln in the Bardo."
Mazzoli is a 45-year-old New Yorker originally from Lansdale, Pennsylvania. She met Vavrek in 2009, and they have been collaborating since.