Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain Has World Premiere at Santa Fe Opera

         Isabel Leonard and Nathan Gunn in Cold Mountain (Photo by Ken Howard)

Review by Rodney Punt

With veterans exhibiting post-traumatic stress disorder, public gun violence 

rampant, and the display of the Confederate flag newly debated, issues that 

trace their history back to the Civil War are on the front page again. The 

Santa Fe Opera’s world premiere last Saturday, August 1, of the Civil War-

themed opera, Cold Mountain, by composer Jennifer Higdon and librettist 

Gene Scheer, could not be more timely.

A dynamic stage production, dazzling score and libretto, dream cast and a 

splendidly conducted orchestra all combined to give Santa Fe Opera a second 

successful launch of a new work in a row. Co-commissioned and co-produced 

with Opera Philadelphia and Minnesota Opera, and in collaboration with 

North Carolina Opera, the opera’s first production here marks a milestone in 

scale and ambition for the company.

See full story at San Francisco Classical Voice