Inspired by Serbian wedding traditions, Ana Sokolovic's opera Svadba comes to the screen in a collaboration between Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Philadelphia

Dancers in the cast of Ana Sokolovic’s Svadba on Ballston Beach in Truro, Massachesetts
Sarah Pacheco, Sasha Peterson, Victoria Awkward, Emily Jerant-Hendrickson, and Jay Breen.
(Photo by David Angus)

Quebec-based composer Ana Sokolovic was born in Serbia and emigrated to Canada as a young adult, where she studied at the University of Montreal (where she now teaches). She was the first woman to write an opera for Canadian Opera Company (in 2015). Her earlier opera Svadba-Wedding, which focuses on the day before a Serbian wedding, was premiered in Canada in 2012 and then toured both Canada and Europe.

There will be chance to see the piece online at the end of this month as Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Philadelphia collaborate on a film of Svadba, directed by Shura Baryshnikov and conducted by Daniela Candillari. Ana Sokolovic's music is for six unaccompanied singers, and in live performance these embody the six characters, but for the film there are six dancers and actors performing to the soundtrack created by the six singers.

Svadba debuts on 28 Januar, 2022 on Boston Lyrica Opera's operabox.tv and the Opera Philadelphia Channel streaming services. On-demand viewing is $15. Subscribers to either service may access the film two days earlier on 26 January 2022. Full details from the Opera Philadelphia website.