The last time we went to a contemporary opera, we struggled a bit to keep the distance between atonal harmonics and noise. Non c’è un problema in this case.

Or else, when it was, the opera offered lots more to sustain us. Like the video, starting in the open air before closing in on a hill town, projected on a screen.

A house is seen. Lights, projected on the scrim, let us peek inside. It is evening. It is quiet. A mother and her daughter prepare for bed. Nature, off stage, sings.

This commissioned work is dedicated to the inhabitants of Valnerina, the nearby valley where two earthquakes hit on each side of our Spoleto visit in 2016.

Yet the idea comes from the sound of bells, an instrument “strongly linked to the territory and to the most intimate parts of us,” explains the musical composer.

Plus it’s connected (by the kindly provided synopsis) to an Emily Dickinson poem. Not to mention there’s dialogue also screened if you can decipher it.

Last but not least: the plot. After the first night, the Event. The veiled screen falls. The routine of the characters is repeated (indeed, reversed) and changed.

Lontano da Qui, when Google speaks, means “away from here.” For us, two years ago, that signified we were safe. It also affirms the effort to start over.