An iconic film. An unforgettable opera. Now to be streamed as a unique online experience.

Presented digitally through the LA Opera On Now initiative, this compelling adaptation of Lars Von Trierʼs 1996 cinematic masterpiece reaches audiences through an incredibly emotional filmed performance After a near-fatal accident leaves Bessʼs new husband, Jan, paralyzed, he implores her to take lovers (quite the ask). Torn between her husbandʼs wishes and the traditional values of her small community, she determinedly follows her faith to a tragic end.

Winner of the 2017 award for “Best New Opera” by the Music Critics Association of North America, groundbreaking American composer Missy Mazzoli's first large-scale opera with a libretto by Canadian Royce Vavrek is already recognized as one of the most powerful music-theater pieces of our time.

"It is not easy to find new operas that command attention, tell their story lucidly and create a powerful, permeating mood. Dark and daring, 'Breaking the Waves' does all this with sensitivity and style."

Current LA Opera subscribers will get early exclusive access via email to watch Breaking the Waves starting on March 12 at 5pm. 

If you are not a LA Opera subscriber, please sign up at www.laopera.org to get free access to watch from March 19 until April 12.

For access visit www.laopera.org.

Photo: Kiera Duffy as Bess in Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia. © 2016  Dominic M. Mercier.