Classical Voice North America: ‘X’ At Last Marks Spot For Anthony Davis In World Of Modern Opera

Classical Voice North America
By Kyle MacMillan

When the New York City Opera officially premiered Anthony Davis’ first opera, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, in 1986, the composer garnered considerable attention, and his career appeared poised for a big take-off.

But things quickly stalled. X was not revived in the immediate decades that followed. Though he continued to write more operas, including Amistad, which debuted at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1997, Davis’ career did not live up to the initial burst of adulation.

Then, everything suddenly changed, starting in 2020. His latest opera, The Central Park Five, won him a long-overdue Pulitzer Prize for Music, still the ultimate honor for composers. And in November 2023, a revised version of X made it to the stage of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, a production that served as a huge vindication.

Read more here.

Photo Credit: Winslow Townson