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Live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Kaija Saariaho's Innocence starring Vilma Jää as the grieving mother and Joyce DiDonato as the Waitress. Susanna Mälkki conducts.

Described by tonight's conductor as 'one of the most important works of our time', the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's final opera depicts the consequences of a violent school shooting in Helsinki, as well as the trauma left in its wake. Anchored by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as a waitress, the cast also includes Finnish ethno-pop singer Vilma Jää in the roles of both a grieving mother and daughter she lost in the shooting. Soprano Jacquelyn Stucker and tenor Miles Mykkanen perform as the young couple at whose wedding, a decade after the tragedy, the mother of one of the victims comes face to face with the family of the perpetrator, while Saariaho's eerie and yet darkly beautiful score raises questions about a society where the inconceivable happens repeatedly, and the degree to which guilt is shared by all.

Presented by Debra Lew Harder with commentator Ira Siff.

Kaija Saariaho: Innocence

Bride ….. Jacquelyn Stucker (soprano)
Mother-In-Law ….. Kathleen Kim (soprano)
Waitress ….. Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano)
Bridegroom ….. Miles Mykkanen (tenor)
Father-In-Law ….. Rod Gilfry (baritone)
Priest ….. Stephen Milling (bass-baritone)
Teacher ….. Lucy Shelton (singer)
Markéta ….. Vilma Jää (folk singer)
Lilly ….. Beate Mordal (singing actor)
Iris ….. Julie Hega (actor)
Anton ….. Simon Kluth (actor)
Jerónimo ….. Camilo Delgado Díaz (actor)
Alexia ….. Marina Dumont Anastassiadou (actor)
Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Susanna Mälkki (conductor)