This is the Opera of the Future, or so its website says. I feel like you're just asking for trouble by making claims like that. Still, I cannot deny that it is future-y in a way that opera normally is not: science-fiction story, music heavily augmented by electronics, on-stage robots (who give their own robotic bow during the curtain call--it's really cute), and twinkling LED displays--what more do you want? It was produced in cooperation with MIT, and you can definitely see how that works. It's all very impressive, no doubt about it.
The story: well, there's a dying billionaire named Simon Powers (I get the polysemic nature of "power," but even so, shouldn't it just be Death and Powers? Or if it's meant to refer to his whole family, Death and the Powerses?) who has his consciousness translated into a computer, maybe, and how this affects the other people in his life: his ward (with cybernetic implants) Nicholas, his wife Evvy, and his daughter Miranda (obvious nod to Shakespeare), as well as, you know, everyone in the world, who is impacted by this rich guy...changing. Will the other people join Simon in computerized life (or death), or not? Oh, and also, this is a story from the past being viewed by robots who are trying and failing to understand the concept of "death." The libretto's by former poet laureate Robert Pinsky, and it's very well-done, if frequently abstruse and perhaps a bit excessively thematically weighted-down.
Still, never mind that: it's quite compelling, dramatically and musically. Just because it's allegedly the Opera of the Future, don't think it abandons traditional operatic values. There are robot voices, sure, but that's a small minority of the whole; mostly, it's regular ol' singing. I...well, to be honest, I think as far as being the "future of opera" goes, that's a bit overstated: I like it, but I can't help but think that too much of this would start to seem like a samey creative cul de sac. Maybe my brain just isn't creative enough! I dunno. Machover has written other operas seemingly in the same vein, but none are available on video in any form (that includes one based on Philip K. Dick's Valis, which seems like the least operatic PKD novel possible--the whole thing is just him ranting about his weird post-mental-breakdown theories--it goes without saying, probably, that in spite of or because of that, I'd still love to see it). This is an odd case, in that it IS available on DVD...but I didn't realize that until, like, just now. It's not catalogued on amazon, and there are no copies listed on ebay. For that reason, you can hardly blame me for instead seeing it via bootleg DVD from the ever-sketchy Premiere Opera. Not sure if it's the same performance, but I think it has the same singers.
Not, maybe for traditionalists, but I don't know--as non-traditionalist works go, this is pretty accessible, so maybe go ahead and see it and broaden your operatic horizons.
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