McTeague

San Francisco, California in 1900: Pioneers and the gold rush are a thing of the past, and the still-Wild West is becoming an urban place of opportunities for the myth of the American Dream ... William Bolcom’s opera about the rise and fall of dentist McTeague, whose practically Brechtian parable ends with a showdown in the searing heat of Death Valley, premiered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1992 and is celebrating its European premiere at the Landestheater Linz. “A vital operatic experience that combines the energy of a Broadway musical with the ambitions of European opera.” (The New York Times)