An Apocalyptic Love Story of Love, Lust, Lockdown

What a time to be alive! In the current socio-political climate, life imitates opera at every turn, and stories that might once have seemed over-the-top, now merely mirror the turmoil of our daily existence. “Beginning,” a 20-minute chamber opera conceived while the librettist was recovering from Covid-19, is a story of attraction amid isolation, of freedom in captivity, and ultimately of resilience.

In the near future, in a world where people are divided into “essentials” and “nonessentials,” and their lives governed by a faceless virtual regime, two would-be lovers meet—only to be forced into lockdown by an invisible scourge. “Beginning” has drawn comparisons to Orwell’s 1984 with a dash of the Decameron for piquancy.

Created by the female writing team of composer Katya Pine and librettist Germaine Shames, “Beginning” lays bare our darkest fears and fiercest hopes through the apocalyptic love story of two star-crossed dreamers