Lincoln in the Bardo

Lincoln in the Bardo is an opera presented at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, staged by the Metropolitan Opera. It is one of the company's productions in the opera genre.

Lincoln in the Bardo is an opera, a sung dramatic work staged with orchestra, singers and a full production team. The title refers to the bardo, the intermediate state in Tibetan Buddhist belief, and the production brings the Metropolitan Opera's staging resources to this contemporary subject. Audiences come to the work as they would to any opera: for the music, the vocal writing and the theatrical staging rather than a light entertainment.

In the auditorium, expect the conventions of a large opera house: a raised stage framed by a proscenium, an orchestra in the pit, and a performance divided into acts with intervals between them. The Met's main house is one of the largest opera theaters in the world, and its productions are sung in their original language with supertitles projected above the stage. Running time and the exact cast of this production are set out with each session.

The work suits listeners interested in contemporary American opera and in the Metropolitan Opera's repertoire of new commissions. Adults who already attend opera will find it familiar in format, while newcomers may want to read a short synopsis beforehand to follow the nonlinear structure.