Chicago premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s "El último sueño de Frida y Diego"
23 March 2026
The first opera by American composer Lena Frank debuted last Saturday night at the Lyric Opera House to a large and enthusiastic crowd.
Written by librettist Nilo Cruz, it is not a bio-opera: the two artists and lovers meet for a day while Diego is still alive and Frida is dead in a fantasy. Catrina, the Keeper of the Dead, makes this possible. At first, Frida rejects the idea of going back to life because she links it to the psychological suffering of her erratic relationship with Diego and the physical suffering she endured following a car accident. However, Leonardo, a young performer in the afterlife, persuades her to travel so that she can paint a new, pain-free Frida.
After their reunion, the happy couple goes back to their cherished Casa Azul house, where they reminisce about the past while Frida attempts to paint. In the end, she gives in to Diego's persistent requests to embrace him, and as soon as she does, her suffering resumes. Diego begs Catrina to let Frida take him to the afterlife; she agrees, and the two eventually go into the underworld together, united for all eternity.
Read here the review by Chicago Classical Review.
“El último sueño de Frida y Diego"
Lyric Opera, 20 N. Wacker Dr.
Through April 4
Tickets and logistics at the link below.
