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| Gabriela Lena Frank, composer of El último sueño de Frida y Diego and the recipient of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Photograph: Mariah Tauger |
Gabriela Lena Frank is the recipient of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music, and she or he was lately named the 2026 Composer of the 12 months by Musical America. Frank’s compositions draw on her life expertise, reflecting on each her Latin American background and her passionate dedication to the setting. On this dialog with Seattle Opera, Frank talks concerning the creation of El último sueño de Frida y Diego, her friendship with the opera’s librettist Nilo Cruz, and her admiration for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two of Mexico’s most iconic painters.
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| Mexican Surrealist painter Frida Kahlo and muralist Diego Rivera from San Francisco Opera’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego. Photograph: Cory Weaver, San Francisco Opera |
SEATTLE OPERA: What was the spark to create El último sueño de Frida y Diego?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: The opportunity of doing this opera first got here up in 2007. My profession was simply starting to maneuver, and there was curiosity from Arizona Opera. They pitched the concept of doing an opera about Frida Kahlo. They didn’t supply any particular pointers. The movie starring Salma Hayek had been round for just a few years, which boosted “Frida mania.” I believe that sparked their curiosity.
SEATTLE OPERA: Frida is a larger-than-life persona, are you able to describe the way you and Nilo Cruz, the librettist, targeted her story?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: At our first assembly, Nilo and I talked about our method to Frida’s life. We knew from the outset that we’d not be capable of reveal each side of her life. At about the identical time, I used to be engaged on an unrelated piece about El Día de Muertos (The Day of the Useless). When Nilo heard the piece, he stated, “That’s the best way in.” We determined that the opera could be a fantasy. As artists, Frida’s and Diego’s work typically depict unrealistic and surreal photos. Diego’s murals comprise individuals who didn’t reside on the similar time. And most of Frida’s works are strikingly dreamlike.
SEATTLE OPERA: Was this a dangerous means of telling their tales?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: Sure. It was a bit dangerous as a result of we have been taking two iconic folks and an iconic competition and mixing in a fantastical universe. If we didn’t do their tales justice, there could be the potential of angering a whole nation. However I’m glad we went for it. And truthfully, this manner was extra fascinating for us as artists.
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| Catrina, the keeper of souls, from San Francisco Opera’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego. Photograph: Cory Weaver, San Francisco Opera |
SEATTLE OPERA: Had been there any main obstacles you and Nilo encountered in the course of the inventive course of?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: Within the early drafts of the libretto, we tried depicting too many elements of their lives. As examples, Diego’s affair with Cristina, Frida’s youthful sister, and Frida’s transient relationship with Leon Trotsky, the Communist exile. These particulars dragged down the libretto. [The libretto] was changing into unwieldy. Then sooner or later, Nilo created the Catrina character, the keeper of the souls. Including Catrina helped outline the opera. I’m glad we did not do a biopic opera as a result of we’d by no means have give you this superb character, who has all the perfect strains. I believe she makes the opera stronger.
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| Nilo Cruz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and the librettist of El último sueño de Frida y Diego. Photograph: Mark Richard Tousignant |
SEATTLE OPERA: How would you describe your relationship with Nilo Cruz?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: We textual content one another on a regular basis—like nearly each different day. He’s my greatest pal. I’m fortunate to work with an expensive, expensive pal. It’s a detailed private relationship and we share many creative values. One lovely praise that we’ve acquired about Frida y Diego is that “it feels just like the composer wrote the libretto and the librettist wrote the music.” I believe that sentiment illustrates our relationship.
SEATTLE OPERA: Do you know Nilo earlier than this venture?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: No. However this piece was lengthy within the making. In 2007, we met for the primary time. The opera did not premiere till 2022. In between the beginning and the end, Nilo and I labored on a bunch of different issues—hymns, orchestral songs, and smaller items. We wrote an enormous requiem for 200 voices and huge orchestra collectively. By the point the opera lastly bought the go-ahead, we’d identified one another for a very long time. I believe it’d be laborious to work with a author for the primary time on a serious venture like this one.
SEATTLE OPERA: How would you describe the soundscape you created for Frida y Diego?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: Due to my mother’s background, I’ve studied and re-imagined music from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and that a part of the world generally. However Frida and Diego are icons of Mexican tradition, they usually each loved Mexican music. I knew that I wasn’t going to have the ability to deliver a similar degree of familiarity to the Mexican sound world And I needed to be very humble about that. Due to this fact, I made a decision to go extra into the dream world and the world of the lifeless versus the world of the residing.
I selected to include the marimba in virtually each single scene. It’s my tribute to one of many quintessential devices of Mexico and all Central America. The marimba is within the music’s DNA and brings a selected tone shade all through the opera. However it’s not a vacationer model.
SEATTLE OPERA: What does it imply to see the opera being produced at numerous firms, from San Diego Opera to Lyric Opera of Chicago to The Metropolitan Opera to right here in Seattle?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: It’s unimaginable. Thank God, we spent so a few years on this. It truly is terrible when somebody spends a lot time and years on one venture and it doesn’t do nicely. And there have been composers who give up after a major failure.
SEATTLE OPERA: What do you hope audiences take away from El último sueño de Frida y Diego?
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: After being concerned on this opera for therefore a few years, I like Frida and Diego a lot. I care about them as in the event that they have been nonetheless alive. That’s the brilliance of Nilo’s libretto. Frida and Diego have been celebrities in their very own lifetimes. They knew they have been celebrities. They have been giants. However on the finish of the efficiency, I’d hope audiences really feel like they know them because of their love for each other or by the at-times poisonous nature their relationship. Their lives weren’t confined to simply the residing world, however transcended it, permeating all through the world of artwork. If folks depart the efficiency considering like that, then I believe we’ve accomplished our jobs proper.
El último sueño de Frida y Diego is on stage January 16–30, 2027 at McCaw Corridor. Study extra and purchase tickets at seattleopera.org/frida.
