Every so often an opera comes along that reminds me why I keep dragging myself (and my long-suffering travel schedule) to see new work. El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego was one of those.
Production director Deborah Colker deserves high praise for nailing the feeling of magical realism through the sets, choreography, costumes, and more. It’s been a while since I’ve seen dancing so seamlessly integrated into an opera; often it feels bolted on, but here it was part of the connective tissue.
The one thing I absolutely cannot get out of my head is the costume for La Catrina. There was this semi-sheer, diaphanous black material combined with incredible prosthetics and makeup that made for the best costume design I’ve ever seen in an opera (shout out to Jon Bausor and Wilberth Gonzalez). It’s going to live rent free in my head alongside the blue dress from the 2015 live-action “Cinderella” movie.
I enjoyed the music, which (of course) is not always guaranteed for modern opera. Composer Gabriela Lena Frank wove in Mexican folk and mariachi color. Turns out she knows what she’s doing: she picked up the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music right around this run (for a different piece, but still).
I’m not sure if it was librettist Nilo Cruz’s idea to have a character playing Greta Garbo in drag, but it totally worked. On paper it sounds like it wandered in from a completely different show, and yet somehow it slotted right in.
As one would expect of the Met, the singing was top notch, and I particularly enjoyed Gabriella Reyes as La Catrina and Isabel Leonard as Frida. Nils Wanderer’s countertenor was perfectly crisp.
Like Disney’s “Coco,” the whole thing felt like a love letter to the culture around the Day of the Dead rather than a pastiche. That distinction matters to me, and it’s not an easy one to pull off.
Opera: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego
Composer: Gabriela Lena Frank
Venue: The Metropolitan Opera
Date: May 17, 2026
Link: https://www.metopera.org/season/2025-26-season/el-ultimo-sueno-de-frida-y-diego/
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