News

David Lang’s true pearl: an opera in five tapestries (with libretto by Sybil Kempson), is inspired by Isabella Stewart Gardner’s sixteenth-century tapestries that tell the story of the first king of Persia, Cyrus the Great. The five-part “in-ear opera” is a private experience, available only through headphones in the Museum’s Tapestry Room. The “stage set” for each scene is an individual tapestry from the Cyrus series, and listeners are immediately immersed into tales of empire building and passion.

true pearl is premiered on October 4 by vocal project Roomful of Teeth and the Callithumpian Consort ensemble, conducted by Stephen Drury.

Please go here for more information on this one and only live performance of the work.