Matthew Lord

Recorded live with the San Francisco Opera, the world premiere production of Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire. For his first-ever opera, Previn turned to one of the most celebrated plays in the history of American theater, Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning A Streetcar Named Desire. He saw the haunting story of lost youth and innocence in the romantic, shadowy world of New Orleans as ideal material. Collaborating with librettist Philip Littell, Previn has captured all the claustrophobic tension, volatile emotion and sexual undertow of Williams' original in his own Streetcar. This world premiere recording took place in September 1998 at the spectacularly renovated War Memorial Opera House, with Previn conducting.

Conrad Susa's three-act opera with libretto by Philip Littell, is based on the scandalous 18th century novel by Pierre Chodelos de Laclos, a tale of decadence and revenge told entirely in letters. The plot of The Dangerous Liaisons revolves around the vengeful widow Marquise de Merteuil, who has managed to keep her reputation despite her many amorous affairs, and her sometime lover the Vicomte de Valmont, a well-born rake who does her bidding.

Sophie, a young psychology major, finds herself kidnapped and thrown in a crazy wild battle royale game filled with musical serial killers, each of who have their own reason for killing. Now Sophie must do her best to survive the game and avoid being killed.

The story of John, a man who leads an ordinary life with a monotonous routine. His existence flows away dull, and he himself makes no effort to change anything; on the contrary, he does everything to continue being an ordinary man. One day John runs into a woman on the subway who is as beautiful as she is mysterious named June. His encounter with her finally leads him to have a goal in his bumptious life: to love June to the end of his days and at any cost.