Inspired by the World Expo and its theme, ‘Feeding the planet’, La Scala commissioned a new opera from Giorgio Battistelli, with a libretto by Ian Burton based on Al Gore’s book An inconvenient Truth, which offered a reflection on the growth and future of the planet.

The one and a half hour performance has as its main protagonist climatologist David Adamson, who is preparing a lecture on the risks that threaten the planet. His reflections are interrupted by various scenes that show the Earth from creation (here represented under various versions: Hindu, biblical, and pre-Socratic) to the present, passing through the Garden of Eden, the snake’s temptation, increasing environmental damage caused by humans, the Kyoto summit, the tsunami, and finally a recitation of passages from John’s Apocalypse by the Archangels. In the second to last scene, Gaia, the Earth as a living entity, sings a long aria in which she reproaches humans for all the evil they have caused her.

The Robert Carsen production, with sets by Paul Steinberg, costumes by Petra Reinhardt, and lights designed by Robert Carsen along with Peter van Praet, featured a giant computer monitor, with David Adamson acting in the space in front of it, and the various episodes taking place within the monitor’s frame in the background. This offered a setting of great visual impact, with some very effective moments, as in the Garden of Eden scene with Adam and Eve among flourishing light green plants, or the swirling appearance of the hurricanes that devastated the Atlantic coast.

Battistelli’s music features strong rhythmic elements, with a stringent tempo and tonal compactness, which combined very well with the visual part. The vocal score features Sprechgesang especially in the part of David Adamson, sung by baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore, and more lyrical parts, as in Gaia’s aria, the latter role being sung by soprano Jennifer Johnston. The signing of the Kyoto protocol with international delegates was a polyphony of voices and different languages.

Maestro Cornelius Meister conducted the world’s premiere with enthusiasm and great control both of the orchestra and of the singers, and the chorus, instructed by Bruno Casoni.

In the end, the music and the production proved to be a great success, with fifteen minutes of applause on the opening night and similar signs of appreciations at the following performances.