About the work
Brokeback Mountain is a two-act opera by Charles Wuorinen to a libretto by Annie Proulx, who adapted her own 1997 short story for the stage. It premiered on 28 January 2014 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, directed by Ivo van Hove and conducted by Titus Engel.
Plot
Cowboys Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist fall in love during a shared summer in the mountains of Wyoming. Over two decades, bound by marriages and social expectations, they carry on a secret relationship that ultimately ends in tragedy.
Cultural significance
The commission originally came from New York City Opera but moved to the Teatro Real with director Gerard Mortier. Wuorinen used Schoenberg's Sprechstimme for Ennis's early inarticulacy and assigned each of the two protagonists a distinct musical pitch world; critical reaction was divided between admiration for its craftsmanship and reservations about its austere musical language.