Inheritance

"Inheritance is a meditation on the meaning of [Sarah] Winchester's life and on the hopelessness of the rampant gun violence in American culture. The opera is dreamy and ethereal, with mysterious music and ambiguous texts. But there are moments of clarity and references in the music to gunfire, manufacturing machinery and the pounding of hammers, contrasted with the keening of spirits and furtive, occasionally frenetic sounds from the harpsichord Liang employs many recurring musical leitmotifs, small and unusual enough to avoid seeming pedantic in particular, his writing for the two percussionists is virtuoso Susan Narucki, as Sarah, again demonstrates that she's one of the great practitioners of contemporary vocal music The supporting cast is quite good, as well Conductor Steven Schick masterfully maintains an atmospheric sense of timelessness but also keeps the performers focused, making a strong case for the opera's dramatic relevance. There's music to admire and cogitate upon here."

"Before the rise of Silicon Valley and Dionne Warwick's 1968 hit "Do you know the way to San Jose,"California was known for its Winchester Mystery House, a gaudy, sprawling mansion built by a munitions heiress to accommodate in its 160 rooms and 40 staircases the ghosts of America's gun culture and to expurgate her sins. This opera in 10 scenes is constructed so that Susan Narucki's great set piece, Sarah Winchester's narrative of dread, hope, and madness emerges not so much out of the story but from the accountability amplified by personal grief. In this and the following even more hair-raising scene, Narucki forces her character to experience almost impossible contrasts of beauty and pain. While Lei Liang's opera must obviously be seen to be fully experienced so sensitively and imaginatively does he mix and match his kaleidoscopic sonic palette to Matt Donovan's freely evocative, numerology-obsessed libretto, the quartet of voices, the curious ensemble and the electroics that the highly charged narrative makes a deep impression even without the stagecraft. The recording captures the drama, layering the voices with the ideally captured instrumental riffs so that it's all perfectly clear and precise without being surgical "