ADORATION | ALLMUSIC - REVIEW

Mary Kouyoumdjian: Adoration

Alan Pierson / Choir of Trinity Wall Street / Silvana Quartet

by: James Manheim | October, 2025

Mary Kouyoumdjian: Adoration Review by James Manheim

Mary Kouyoumdjian's opera Adoration is based on a 2008 film of the same name by Canadian director Atom Egoyan, but its themes of religious conflict and the ways it is amplified by Internet virality seem ripped from the headlines today. So it is no surprise that the opera, although it packs a lot of difficult detail into its 100 minutes, has already had high-profile productions in several cities. This one was recorded at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in early 2024. The tale is of a teenage boy, Simon, who is raised to believe that his Palestinian father killed himself and his white mother in a terrorist attack. Opening with news reports of the attack, the story grows more complex when Simon is given a school assignment that involves retelling it. He posts videos on the Internet, and they go viral as his classmates and others talk about them. Then the action returns to Simon's family, to his uncle, Tom, and to his teacher, Sabine, resulting in intense conflicts that merit an obscene language warning. The reactions to the viral video make up a Greek chorus-like effect, here rendered with freshness by the Trinity Wall Street Choir. Another layer is provided by an electronically altered string quartet, here the Silvana Quartet. A lot goes on in the opera, maybe to a bewildering degree, but veteran librettist Royce Vavrek is notable for reducing a complex film to dramatically effective operatic strokes. No credit is given to the individual singers in the booklet, but Simon is apparently portrayed by Omar Najmi, who is remarkably skillful in a complex role. Certainly, those interested in the ways opera might take up the news headlines of today should hear (and see) this opera.