Stunningly beautiful, deeply moving Omar at Lyric Opera

Written by a MacArthur Genius and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Omar, the 2022 opera by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, rolled into co-commissioner Lyric Opera of Chicago last week with high anticipation. The opera is based on the autobiography of 19th century Islamic scholar Omar Ibn Said, who was captured into American slavery in 1807 when he was 37 years old. Though never freed, he lived to his 90’s and he wrote several texts in Arabic. 

As we celebrate 250 years of our nation, everything about Said’s story challenges the narrative we have come to be taught.  The Africans forcibly and tragically brought to our shores were people from highly evolved cultures which were shattered. The history of creating this current nation is a tale of horrific treatment of any peoples that were not understood. We carry a history of inhumane treatment of others, crimes against humanity, that is not easily unseen, once you become aware of it.

And despite its depiction of a tragedy, yet this opera is exquisitely beautiful, both visually and sonically.  The music weaves together Islamic prayer melodies and Senegalese music which shatters into dissonance during the Atlantic crossing in slave ships. Once on American soil, the score evolves into incorporating melodies drawn from American spirituals and Gospel. An enormous chorus frames the action and creates a wall of sound that surrounds the audience.   

The costumes by Micheline Russell-Brown originally and here in Chicago by Charlese Antoinette Jones incorporate Arabic calligraphy and the graphics of the Middle Passage adding layers of meaning to the characters who wear indigo cloth underneath as a memorial to how America is built on technology from Africa.  The projections by Joshua Higgason amplify Amy Rubin’s set symbolisms so we can travel from Africa to the American south in a meaningful way.  The theatrical designs here add exceptional meaning and beauty to the production.  The entire cast was magnificent.

Because this opera has so many important details, it was even more important that it included a level of accessibility with the new Auracast technology,now available at every show in the Lyric Season.   My friend who uses hearing aids was blown away by the details she could hear now in the music.  It made the opera all the more meaningful and complex in a way that improved the experience. She was so impressed I might borrow the tech for an upcoming opera.   For more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLQURqwPTf0

Omar was presented for 3 performances only October 23, 25 and 28 at the Lyric Opera House,20 N. Wacker, in Chicago.  For more information go to https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2026-27/Omar/

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