Commentary: Redemption, writ large, in L.A. Opera’s divine ‘Omar’

A woman in a head wrap and dramatic blue costume printed with Arabic lettering on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage.

“Omar,” the new opera by composers Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, finds its strength in the simplicity of prayer. The work, which is too fluid to be classified in discrete musical or dramatic genres, is […]

How Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels made ‘Omar’ at LA Opera

A portrait of Rhiannon Giddens with a banjo hanging in the background.

Omar ibn Said, a Muslim scholar from Senegal, wrote an autobiography in 1831 about how he was captured and sold into slavery for decades in the Carolinas. His memoir, written in Arabic, brims with quotations […]